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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25485148">Wendip Week 2020: Seven Stories and an Extra</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/William_Easley/pseuds/William_Easley'>William_Easley</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Gravity Falls</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Humor, Romance, off-beat, wendip week</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:22:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>19,917</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25485148</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/William_Easley/pseuds/William_Easley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Time again for Wendip Week! These stories are not in my normal AU, but are in response to prompts for Wendip Week 2020. They are romantic, titillating, but not explicit. Here we go!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Wendy Corduroy/Dipper Pines</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Life You Save</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I do not own the show Gravity Falls or any of the characters. They are the property of the Walt Disney Company and of the show's creator, Alex Hirsch. I earn no money from writing my fanfictions; I do them out of love for the show, for practice writing, and to amuse myself and, I hope, other readers.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>This story is not in my AU, but is written in response to the prompt for Wendip Week: Friday, July 24th - What if while they were lifeguards, Wendy tries to teach Dipper how to do rescue training by having herself play the victim?</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>The Life You Save</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>By William Easley</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>(July 24, 2012)</em>
</p><p>It might have turned out so differently. However, that hot, hot night in July, Dipper was on edge because the night before, someone had bent the handle of the pool skimmer, and now Poolcheck hinted that if one little thing—just one more little thing—went wrong during his turn as night watchman for the community pool, he was fired.</p><p>And wouldn't you know it, Dipper caught Stan trying to clip through the chain link fence to claim the primo lawn chair before Gideon could get there the next evening. Luckily, Dipper spotted him before he could use the bolt cutters, and he said, "Come around to the gate, and I'll let you in. Just try not to be conspicuous tomorrow morning when Poolcheck comes to open the pool."</p><p>"Scout's honor!" Stan said, surprising Dipper because he was fairly sure that Stan had never been a scout and didn't understand the concept of honor. Whatever.</p><p>Next it was Soos, clambering over the fence intent on freeing the inflatable pool ducks. Dipper intercepted him, told him the ducks were asleep and to come back the next day, and Soos climbed back over the fence and went home.</p><p>Then Mabel—good gosh, Mabel. She came clattering up in the Shack golf cart, he headed her off before she could gate crash (literally—she was driving toward the gate with no sign of stopping) and he got the story from her—the long-haired kid who was always in the pool was a merman, he needed to get to a river and then to the sea, and she was there to save him.</p><p>To prove it, she called him, and he poked his head above the water. "<em>Hóla</em>," he said to Dipper, sheepishly.</p><p>Dipper slapped his forehead. "OK," he said. "You need to get to the river? Mabel, take the golf cart back to the Shack and put the ice chest—the great big one—on the back. Get one of those bungee cords to secure it."</p><p>"What are we gonna do?" Mabel asked.</p><p>"Put water in the ice chest, put the merman into—"</p><p>"My name is Mermando," said the merman.</p><p>"Glad to meet you, I'm Dipper. Put Mermando into the water in the chest, drive to the lake, and put him in the water. The lake empties into the river, and there you go."</p><p>"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Mabel said. "Oh, wait, I don't think I cam pick Mermando up by myself."</p><p>Dipper sighed. "Grunkle Stan, are you up for helping a freak of nature return to his native habitat?"</p><p>From the shadows, Stan called, "Nah, I'm restin' up for tomorrow's triumph over Li'l Gideon."</p><p>"I'm not sure we can trust Soos not to, um—"</p><p>"Soos it up," Mabel said.</p><p>"Yeah. And I can't leave my post. OK, you go get the ice chest. I'll call Wendy and see if she'll help."</p><p>"I do not know how to thank you," Mermando said. "Also, I am greatly offended to be called a freak of nature."</p><p>Wendy had not gone to bed, and when Dipper frankly pleaded with her, she said, "OK, dude, you went with us to the convenience store. I'll ride my bike over. Give me twenty minutes."</p><p>Mabel got back before Wendy arrived, she and Dipper filled the ice chest with water from the hose, Dipper redid the bungee cords so it wouldn't jostle off, and then Wendy came riding in. Mermando said, "<em>Buenos noches,</em> red-haired guardian of the swimmers."</p><p>"Same to you," she said. "Show me your tail. Whoa, dude, I wondered why you never got out of the water! Fill me in. Dipper says we gotta take you to the lake—"</p>
<hr/><p>That had been at ten P.M. At midnight, he heard Wendy's bike gliding back. "Dude," she called, "Open the gate."</p><p>Dipper did, and she came in, kicked off her boots, tugged off her socks, and sat on the edge of the pool, dangling her feet in the water. He asked, "How did it go?"</p><p>"Real good. I followed Mabes on my bike, we got to the dock, hauled the ice chest to the end of the pier—man, it was heavy—and dumped Mermando in. I gave Mabel and him some space, and she got her first kiss. Here, I took a photo."</p><p>"Ew," Dipper said, staring at her phone. Mabel was standing on one foot, leaning forward, Mermando holding onto the edge of the dock, and they were lip to lip.</p><p>"Mabel liked it," Wendy said. "Only she got hungry for fish sticks, she said. Anyway, merdude's on his way to the open sea, Mabes took the golf cart and Stan's ice chest back to the Shack, and we're good. Who's snoring over there?"</p><p>"That's Stan," Dipper said. "He wants to beat Gideon to the lawn chair tomorrow. Thanks, Wendy. I owe you one."</p><p>She put her arm behind him. "Don't sweat it, Dip. Hot night. Let's cool off!"</p><p>He hadn't been prepared for the shove, and he tumbled off the pool edge and into the deep end. Panicked, he thrashed and kicked like a madman. He came up, tried to gasp for air and got mostly water instead—</p><p>With his head underwater, Wendy's plunge sounded metallic, oddly musical. And then she had her arm around him and hauled him to the surface, coughing and choking. "Hang on," Wendy said. "Here, grab hold of the edge." He did, she hoisted herself up, and then she pulled him up after her. "Oh, man, Dipper," she said. "You all right?"</p><p>He coughed up a little water. "I think so. Sorry. I can't swim."</p><p>"You can't swim? And I made you assistant lifeguard? Dip, that is not acceptable! I'm gonna go change into my swim things. Give me the key."</p><p>Dipper felt for the chain. "It must've come off when I fell in!"</p><p>Grunting, Wendy said, "Wait a minute." She slipped into the water and submerged. Seconds went by. Dipper began to shift anxiously. He was on the verge of yelling for Grunkle Stan when Wendy surfaced again. "Got it," she said. "Be right back."</p><p>He sat there dripping wet—luckily, he was still wearing only swim trunks and a tee shirt. Well, plus soggy sneakers. He took off shoes and socks.</p><p>Wendy returned, wearing her red bathing suit, though in the dim security light it looked nearly black. "Take off your tee shirt and come with me to the shallow end," she said.</p><p>They descended the ladder. Wendy said, "OK, Dip, now first thing you're gonna learn is to float on your face. I'm here, and I won't let you drown, OK? Bend forward. Put your arms over your head. Place your left palm on back of your right hand and hold your hands flat. Take a deep breath, and I'm gonna pull you across the pool with your face under water. Don't try to breathe yet."</p><p>She taught him how to kick, and then he floated and kicked halfway across the pool. Then she demonstrated a crawl stroke. "Turn your head as you move your arms. Grab a breath when you're looking back. Open your mouth and gasp it in. Exhale when your face is underwater—blow bubbles."</p><p>After an hour, Dipper was swimming, after an awkward fashion.</p><p>"Tired out?" Wendy asked.</p><p>"Not really."</p><p>"Then we're gonna swim a lap, down to the deep end and back again."</p><p>"The, uh, the deep end?" Dipper asked.</p><p>"Dude, will you be scared if I swim right beside you?"</p><p>"It's just that—the deep end is, um, deep."</p><p>Wendy thought for a second. "Have you ever had your first kiss?"</p><p>"Um, well, uh—I don't think so."</p><p>"You'd know if you had. How's this? If you'll swim a lap alongside me, I'll give you your first kiss."</p><p>"Waga muph blah?" he asked timidly. Then she shook his head. "Mouth not word making right. I mean on the lips?"</p><p>"Sure, dude," she said. "Deal?"</p><p>With a goal in mind, Dipper found swimming to the edge of the pool at the deep end, reversing and kicking off, and swimming back to the shallows easier than he had feared.</p><p>"Good man," Wendy said. "Here." She put her hands on his cheek, tilted his head, and pressed her lips against his for a quick smooch.</p><p>"Thank you," he said humbly.</p><p>She laughed and punched his shoulder. "Dude! Never thank a girl for something like that. Jut be suave and confident. OK, now you can swim a little. Tomorrow we'll take turns in the chair, and we'll each swim about three laps in between our spells in the chair. You gotta practice. Then—let's see, Poolcheck takes night duty tomorrow, then it's me, then it's you again. Pool's closed Sunday. Poolcheck's on duty Monday night, you again on Tuesday—Next Tuesday night I'll come back, we'll have the pool to ourselves, and I'll teach you basic lifesaving."</p>
<hr/><p>The next day brought no terrible problems, Wendy actually pulled a kid out when he slipped through his float ring, Poolcheck was happy for a change, or at least didn't look like he was on the verge of a major stroke.</p><p>Wendy still worked at the Shack until three, when the pool opened every afternoon, and then she and Dipper took off from three until pool closing time at seven. Mabel couldn't understand why Dipper wasn't agog to hear her blow-by-blow account of her first kiss. With Mermando gone and the heat wave breaking, she didn't go to the pool every day. Wendy told Soos that the inflatable ducks had migrated, so he didn't come back. Stan was glued to the lawn chair for a day and night, but they finally found a solvent that got him loose and he was no longer interested in the pool.</p><p>So every afternoon Wendy and Dipper manned the lifeguard tower and swam laps and Dipper got better at swimming. On the night of July 24th, true to her word, Wendy came back at nightfall. "Now," she said, "we're gonna learn some basic lifesaving. I'll go change into my suit."</p><p>When she came back, Dipper immediately hopped in the pool and started to tread water—something he had just learned.</p><p>"Man, you're eager!" Wendy said.</p><p>"You're in a bikini!" he squeaked.</p><p>"Yeah, hardly ever get to wear it, 'cause red hair, sunburn, you know." She modeled. "What do you think?"</p><p>"It's, uh, it's great. Great. So great! I mean—I'm an idiot."</p><p>"What's wrong with—oh. Oh. You like it, huh? And that's why you jumped in the water, 'cause you thought I'd see how much you like it?"</p><p>He grasped the edge of the pool and hung in the water. "Um."</p><p>"It's OK, Dip. Normal boy reaction. All right, I'm gonna demonstrate first. You be a victim. Swim out to the middle of the deep end and then thrash around. I'll come and rescue you. Wait, let me get in the chair."</p><p>She climbed the tower, and despite the low light, Dipper kept his gaze glued to her legs, her, um, her back, her, um, her chest, and her, um, foundation. "OK," she called. "Go be drowning!"</p><p>He swam out—by then he was no longer scared of the deep water—and started to splash and yell "Help!"</p><p>Oh, man. Wendy stood, poised, and launched herself in a flat dive that cut into the water with minimal splash. A second later, she surfaced near him, took a quick stroke, and then said, "I've got you! Don't struggle, just relax, you'll be OK." She cupped her hand under his chin and sidestroked to the edge of the pool. "There you go. You're rescued. Now, that's the most basic method. It's better to use a buoy or float bar, and we'll practice that, too. Trouble with this way is, if a victim's real panicky, they'll try to climb on top of you. Ready to rescue me?"</p><p>Dipper had lost his obvious amorous problem. "I think I can do this," he said. "But don't fight me, OK?"</p><p>"Not yet," she said. "This is just the good old-fashioned Boy Scout rescue. Go get in the chair."</p><p>"Uh—do I have to dive?"</p><p>"Oh, right, we haven't done diving. OK, this first time, go to the edge and dive off there. You may belly-flop, but if you kick hard, that helps."</p><p>Dipper did belly-flop, not too bad, but he smacked into the water. He put his hand under Wendy's chin and said, "Relax, Miss, just lie back and you'll be OK." Though his sidestroke was awkward, he pulled her along. "How'd I do?"</p><p>"Passable," Wendy said, pushing her wet hair back. "Dip, I gotta admit you surprise me. You really give it a try. I like that. You're more mature than your age."</p><p>"Thanks."</p><p>They practiced next with a bar float, a forty-inch-long foam tube encased in vinyl—Wendy put it against her chest, took him under his armpits, leaned back in the water and let the bar support his shoulders as she did frog-kicks to tow him to safety. With his back pressed against her breasts.</p><p>"Let me go take a bathroom break," he said on the edge of the pool, hurrying away.</p><p>When he came back in five minutes, she said, "You're shivering, Dip!" She put her hand against his bare chest. "Whoa! You're freezing!"</p><p>"Cold shower," he explained in an embarrassed voice.</p><p>Then it was his turn. He jumped in, found the bar float awkward, got to her, put his hands under her arms and then swept them up—</p><p>"Oops!" she said. "Don't stop, I'm drowning, and it happens! Save me!"</p><p>He towed her to the side and said, "Sorry, sorry, sorry, I didn't mean—"</p><p>"It's cool," she said. "I got my hair." She arranged it to cover her chest. "Do me a solid, Dip, and get my top. It's floating right there."</p><p>He dived in and swam to it, perhaps aided by the fact that he had a sort of rudder. "Here," he said. "I won't look."</p><p>"Thanks, man." She took the bra from him. "Oh, what the heck. It's dark, anyway. I think you deserve another kiss."</p><p>She hopped into the water, leaving her top on the edge of the pool, and towed him to where the water was shoulder-deep on her. He floated upright. Wendy said, "You know, dude, now it's like we're the same height. I think when you get your growth in you're gonna be quite a hunk."</p><p>"Please," he said, embarrassed.</p><p>"Come get your kiss," she said, pulling him against her.</p><p>And if he'd died in the next thirty seconds, he wouldn't even realize it when he got to heaven, because as far as he was concerned, he was there already.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>The End</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Son of the Beach</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This story is not in my AU, but is written in response to the prompt for Wendip Week: Saturday, July 25- What if Wendy and Dipper took a (romantic) stroll on the beach alone, only to become stuck in slow sucking quicksand?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>Son of a Beach</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>(July 25, 2017)</em>
</p><hr/><p>"I've never seen such white sand," Wendy said, raising her sunglasses and then lowering them again.</p><p>"It's soft, too!" Mabel said. "It feels like my feet are walking in powdered sugar. Oh, but, one tip, don't taste it. It's salty."</p><p>"It's really different from Gravity Falls," Dipper said.</p><p>They were staying at a beach house on Cape St. John, in the armpit of Florida's panhandle. That sounds way grosser than it really was.</p><p>Grunkle Ford had needed help to search for a creature, force, or alien that had been abducting visitors—a suspected twelve since May—in the area, and since Grunkle Stan had some sort of business proposition in process that he couldn't interrupt long enough to leave Gravity Falls, the twins volunteered to go along, and Wendy said she'd come, too. Soos was OK with that because he had Melody and Abuelita to help out in the Shack.</p><p>Long and short was, they flew from Oregon to Tallahassee, Florida, rented a car, and drove south to the Gulf. They had spent every day from Friday through Tuesday interviewing locals, using Ford's equipment to search for anomalies, and poring over history books and newspaper archives.</p><p>By Monday evening, when they reviewed their findings, Dipper thought they had zip.</p><p>The fishing guide who had landed three passengers on a barrier island so they could have a picnic lunch and never saw them again had no idea. He'd finally anchored his boat and gone ashore in a rubber raft. He found the three women's picnic spread on the ground, food still in the hamper, blanket blown double and drifted over by sand. It had been only about ninety minutes since they had gone ashore, he had heard no shouts, there was no trace of violence. Or the women. The local sheriff's office and the Coast guard could find no leads and gave up the search.</p><p>The couple from North Carolina who had lost a big dog similarly had no explanation. They'd been on the mainland—admittedly on the shore facing the barrier island a few hundred yards across the bay—and they headed down to the beach every morning, Muffin with them. Muffin was a mixed-breed with some Labrador and some Old English sheepdog in the mix somewhere, and she must have been much cuter as a small fuzzy pup to get the name Muffin.</p><p>Anyway, one morning they had started out before sunrise, Muffin had run ahead, and when the couple had wound through the dunes and come out on the beach—no dog. She had not yelped, there'd been no sound of a struggle, and her footprints ran down to the edge of the surf, and—nothing. There were other, vaguer stories: At different times, couples and a family of four had missed their checkout times in three different hotels. Their belongings were in the rooms—no sign of the people.</p><p>On Monday evening, Ford said that in order to discover whether such things had happened in past years along this stretch of the coast, he was going to spend the next day in a newspaper office, reading through back issues.</p><p>"If I can't discover some kind of historical pattern, we'll confer and try to decide whether we're likely to be of any help here. We've been running nonstop since we arrived, and I'm starting to think nothing paranormal is going on at all."</p><p>"Tomorrow is beach day!" Mabel crowed.</p><p>Along the northern edge of the Gulf, the water is turquoise shading to blue, and the sand is fine-textured and very white, the powdery residue of millennia-long grinding, the mortar of the sea pounding endlessly on the alabaster shells of billions of mollusks. The locals call it sugar sand, as Mabel had very nearly guessed.</p><p>The beach house stood on a small peninsula. The road to it led through a reedy salt marsh, and the result was that the house was comparatively isolated. Its curve of beach was untracked that morning, though they could see shell hunters strolling about a half-mile off to their right. A low sandy island off to the right enclosed a bay, and evidently that area was a good place for shelling.</p><p>But straight out from their little slice of beach rolled the Gulf. Waves surged in, crashing hip-deep on the sand and rushing way up to dissolve into white foam. Mabel ran into the water and leaped up as a wave curled around her.</p><p>"This is the first time I've ever been swimming in the ocean," Wendy said, kicking off her flip-flops. She was wearing her red one-piece, and she had slathered on SPF 100 sunblock, the same as when she had briefly had the lifeguard job at the Gravity Falls Community Pool. With her red hair and fair skin, she had to be careful about sunburn.</p><p>They spent two hours on the beach that morning. They saw a string of dolphins, and pelicans soared over like smaller versions of Pteranodons. Gulls stood still in the air, kiting on the beach winds and sounding as if they were laughing at the humans down on the beach. Out in the Gulf, sailboats, ketches and one sizable schooner passed. As they dried off in the sun, the three of them built a magnificent sand castle, taller than Dipper and Mabel—who at sixteen were only about four inches shorter than Wendy.</p><p>Back at the rental house, they all showered—there was actually an outside shower where they rinsed sand from their skin. Mabel complained a little because the Florida water smelled sulfuric. They climbed the steps to the veranda, because like most beach houses there, theirs stood on pillars sunk deep enough to hit bedrock and tall enough to hold the house twelve feet above the beach. Inside, they used the two showers to take off their swimming togs and use lots of shampoo and soap to get the salt off their skins and out of their hair.</p><p>Then Dipper and Wendy walked along the road through the marsh—they had to spray themselves with bug repellent to do that—watching the big dragonflies zinging this way and that, gleaming like emeralds and sapphires. Half a mile along, they came to a paved highway and the scatter of beach shops, fishing-tackle shops, and restaurants that made up the business section of the small town.</p><p>They picked up take-out sandwiches, burgers and grouper, plus fries, and then walked back with the goodies. Mabel came out to claim one fish sandwich and one burger, and Dipper and Wendy split a grouper sandwich, since it was huge. They sat on the deck, watching the Gulf glittering under the midday sun, and ate their lunches and drank their colas. Then they all took a siesta.</p><p>Ford returned in the late afternoon, reporting no success. "There have been disappearances over the years," he said. "Most of them, though, have clearly mundane explanations—inexperienced tourists overturning rental sailboats and drowning, one suspected alligator attack, though no body was ever found, one old man fishing off a dock who vanished, but his body was found a day later. He'd had a heart attack and had tumbled into the water. No continuous events of unexplained vanishings. The current episode is the only one—beginning June 4, with the three picnickers, and continuing to last week, when the dog vanished."</p><p>"Is the island that we can see from the deck the one where the ladies disappeared?"</p><p>"Yes. Have you noticed the distant white tower? That's a lighthouse. It's not in use any longer, but it's a prime picnic location, and the three women vanished in that area. I was thinking of renting a boat tomorrow and taking it out to look around there."</p><p>"Yay, boat time!" Mabel said.</p><p>"If nothing turns up—well, I suppose we have to admit defeat in this case. We can remain until Saturday, and then we have to get back to the mainland and back to the airport for our flight to Portland."</p><p>That evening they ate out, courtesy of Ford. He drove them a few miles to a waterfront seafood place, where Mabel, predictably, had lasagna. Wendy ordered a shrimp salad, dinner-sized, and Dipper had fish and chips. Ford selected ahi tuna. When they returned to the rental house, it was late. Ford suggested they all turn in early.</p><p>But . . . Dipper and Wendy had napped earlier. He tapped on her door a little past eleven. "Saw your light was on," he said shyly.</p><p>"Yeah, if I sleep in the afternoon, it takes like forever to get back to sleep. What's up, Dip?"</p><p>He rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, same with me. I can't sleep yet, so I thought—want to go for a walk on the beach? There's no moon, but it's really clear, so the stars, you know, should, um."</p><p>"A romantic stroll on the beach?" Wendy teased.</p><p>"Well, you know. Uh, maybe a <em>friendly</em> stroll," Dipper said.</p><p>"Sure, I'm up for it," Wendy said. "Let me throw on a pair of shorts and break out my sandals."</p><p>They walked out into a humid, breezy night. The houses far down the beach twinkled with orange-to-yellow lights, the waves rolling in shone with pale blue phosphorescence.</p><p>For a few minutes they stood on the deck, leaning on the rail. The sky glittered with stars, although the humidity in the air gave each a pale aura. They could hear the rhythmic rush and crash of waves higher on the beach than they had been that morning.</p><p>"Let's go have our friendly romantic walk," Wendy said.</p><p>Dipper had picked up a flashlight, and he used it to help them find the trail through the dunes, sea oats waving at them, and down to the beach. The tide had turned not long before, the ebb was over, and the flood was coming in. In the oval of illumination from Dipper's flashlight, small white crabs hastily scuttled out of their path.</p><p>"You can switch it off, " Wendy said. "There's enough light from the stars and the waves to walk."</p><p>"OK." Dipper turned off the flashlight.</p><p>"This is nice," Wendy said. "It's so much cooler down here by the Gulf."</p><p>"There goes an ocean liner," Dipper said. "See it?"</p><p>"Oh, yeah, all those lights," Wendy said, gazing out to sea. "Neat."</p><p>"Ever wonder what taking a cruise would be like?"</p><p>"Me? No. Not something a lumberjack girl from central Oregon thinks about. But I'll bet it would be crowded."</p><p>"Oh, yeah, I'm sure," Dipper said.</p><p>"Might be nice to have a private ship, though. Or is it a boat?"</p><p>"I think if it's small enough to be carried aboard another craft, it's a boat," Dipper said. "If it's a huge yacht, I guess it would be a ship."</p><p>"You know a lot."</p><p>"Just a little about a lot of different things," Dipper said.</p><p>"Yeah, well, I think what would be nice would be to have, like, a sailing boat just big enough for two. You know, go cruising around on your own, get way out on the ocean, you could take off your swimsuits—"</p><p>"Whoa!"</p><p>Wendy laughed. "Didn't mean to startle you, Dip—did I make you trip? Catch up!"</p><p>"Wait. There must be a tide pool here, I just suddenly stepped in real soft sand. I dropped my flashlight. See if you can find it."</p><p>"Sure thing."</p><p>Dipper grunted. His feet had plunged into very loose sand, and when he tried to pull one foot out, the other one slipped in deeper.</p><p>He heard Wendy sweeping a foot over the damp sand. "Got it," she said from a few feet away. She turned it on and then said, "Dude, what's going on?"</p><p>"I just stepped in some real wet sand. I'm kinda stuck. Pull me out." Dipper stretched out a hand.</p><p>Wendy laughed. "OK, man, don't get frantic. You're only in up to your knees."</p><p>Dipper leaned toward her and stretched out her hand. She grabbed it. "I see what you mean, Dipper," she said, straining to pull on his arm. "This feels weird under my feet. Here you go—whoa!"</p><p>The beam of light swept wildly around, and Dipper asked, "What's wrong?"</p><p>"I think instead of pulling you out, I pulled myself in. Look!"</p><p>She shined the light down at their legs. The sand was bubbling, almost foaming, and it crept up on their legs inch by inch. Either that or—</p><p>"Dude, it's suckin' us in!" Wendy said. "This is quicksand."</p><p>"Stay still, stay still," Dipper said. Wendy's effort to pull him out had resulted in her legs sinking way faster than his—now she was in to mid-thigh, Dipper over his knees, so he was eye to eye with her. "If you don't struggle, it won't pull you down."</p><p>Wendy stopped trying to free herself, but after a couple of seconds she said, "It's still sucking us in, Dipper. Listen, sometimes in Gravity Falls, you run across places where there's a spring coming up through a bed of sand. The water, I don't know, lubricates the grains of sand, and that's what causes quicksand. If we don't struggle, we can sort of swim out in slow motion."</p><p>"You're closer to the edge," Dipper said. "Try to get out. Don't waste your time with me. Get out first."</p><p>"Not gonna leave you. Don't let go of my hand! Dip, I'm gonna toss the flashlight up the beach." She did, and the flashlight landed pointing toward them.</p><p>"Maybe somebody will see it," Dipper said. "If someone could just throw us a rope—"</p><p>"Stay still, Dip. Don't try to move."</p><p>Slowly the frothing sand rose up their bodies, higher and higher. As it pulled them down, it also pulled them together—until they were face to face, pressing tight against one another. "I'm so sorry, Wendy!" Dipper said as the froth reached their chests.</p><p>"Don't, dude. My choice to come, my suggestion we take a walk. I don't think it's slowing. This isn't ordinary quicksand."</p><p>They sank lower. Now the sand was up to Dipper's neck, Wendy's shoulders. She hugged him as he desperately tilted his face toward the sky. "Hang on. We'll think of something. We always—Dipper!"</p><p>It was as if he'd been swallowed, pulled in with a single gulp. His eyes were open, and he saw a blurred view of Wendy's body, in a kind of misty white light. He tried to hold his breath, but his body forced him to gasp—</p><p>And he stopped breathing—but didn't die. He tried to talk and couldn't make a sound.</p><p>Then Wendy sank below the surface, too, and she could see him—he could tell—through the foggy white light. She held his left hand in her right, and she reached out her left hand, and he took it. She pulled her face close to his—<em>Is she going to kiss me?—</em>he realized she was trying to talk, or yell. But he heard nothing.</p><p>"Wendy!" he yelled, aware that his own voice had not made a sound, though he'd tried very hard to make her hear him. He shook his head.</p><p>Then she put her face right against his cheek, and he could tell her mouth was moving. What the heck? It wasn't a kiss—wait, was she talking while pressing her lips to his face?</p><p>He concentrated. He could feel two syllables, repeated again and again. Then he got it. She was, with exaggerated lip movements, saying his name.</p><p>He pulled away, put his lips against her cheek and said, "Wen-dy. Wen-dy."</p><p>She nodded.</p><p>It seemed to take hours before they could lip-read words other than their names.</p><p>Wendy said, or rather mouthed, <em>I'm touching bottom. Gonna let you go on down. Don't let go of my hands.</em></p><p>He had no sensation of sinking, but he felt her let go of his right hand, and then she pressed down on his shoulder, until he stopped with his feet on what felt like packed sand. Slowly, Wendy knelt beside him. She did something that Dipper couldn't quite see—then he realized she was scooping up sand. She lifted her hand and showed him as she let it trickle through her fingers. He nodded.</p><p>They had reached the bottom of the quicksand. So what? They must be in seven or ten feet of the stuff. And though it didn't seem they had to breathe to survive, he, at least had a panicky feeling that he was about to drown.</p><p>She put her lips against his cheek again. It took four or five tries before he got it: <em>Which way to dry land?</em></p><p>He remembered that when he'd stepped into the stuff, the ocean was on his left. But Wendy had turned him around. He pointed left.</p><p>She leaned, trying to climb the slope of beach. He understood, got his feet down, and imitated her. It was terrible, leaning almost double and wading through what felt like molasses.</p><p>In four difficult steps, they found the dog, at first only a shadowy dark mass ahead, but then it moved. It was alive—but they couldn't talk to it. Dipper reached out and found its collar. It required very little to persuade it to try to crawl out with the two humans.</p><p>A few more steps, and they collected two women. They seemed exhausted and confused, but they got the idea and joined the band.</p><p>Walking five yards was like walking five miles in slow motion. Then Wendy squeezed his hand rapidly and urged him to move faster.</p><p>Three more steps, and his head broke the surface. He gasped air, choked out white foamy stuff, spat, and said, "What—what—?"</p><p>"We're wading out," Wendy said, spitting between words. "Just a few more steps!"</p><p>One of the women tried to ask something, but gargled and then, frankly, barfed. At last she took a long, wheezy breath, and asked, "What is this horrible thing?"</p><p>"Come on," Wendy said. "We're nearly out. Lean into it!"</p><p>The going got even harder. The stuff didn't want to surrender its victims.</p><p>Wendy and Dipper were in the lead, ankle-deep. Wendy, sounding nearly worn-out, said, "Get ready, Dip. Gonna try something."</p><p>"What—whoa!" she got her hands under his back and his knees and lifted him above the frothy surface. "Get help!" she said—and threw him.</p><p>Wendy was stronger than even Dipper thought. He felt himself launched, and then he crunched down on damp sand—painfully scratchy—and saw the flashlight, up the beach and still lit.</p><p>He grabbed it. Wendy, the frantic dog, and the two women seemed unable to free their feet to take the last two or three steps. "Get the dog out!" Dipper yelled.</p><p>Wendy hefted it and tossed. "The stuff's creeping back in!" she said. "It's trying to swallow us again!</p><p>The dog scrambled up above the high-tide line on the beach and stood there shivering.</p><p>Dipper removed his shirt and went right to the bubbling edge. "Catch hold!" He swung his shirt out, she grabbed it, and he hauled. It was like trying to pull her from setting cement, but at last, she all but fell forward, catching herself with her hands—but her bare feet were free of the sucking horror.</p><p>"You go get Ford!" she said. "Bring rope. I'll stay here and do what I can to help these two."</p><p>"Use my shirt!" Dipper said.</p><p>He ran all the way back to the house, knocked on Ford's bedroom door, and when his uncle opened it, he said, "We found what's taking people! Come and help Wendy! Do we have rope?"</p><p>"Rope? Um—check the storage room under the house! Where are we going?"</p><p>"West on the beach!"</p><p>Mabel came in, rubbing her eyes. "I thought we were gonna—"</p><p>"Mabel!" Dipper said. "Got a job for you! There's a scared dog on the porch! Muffin! Take care of her!"</p><p>"You got it!"</p><p>She let the sodden dog inside as Dipper ran down the steps. The storage compartment . . . was locked. But Ford clattered down the steps and brought the key. Ford had thought to take up a flashlight, and in the storage room they found a coil of half-inch nylon rope.</p><p>"This way!" Dipper said, taking the lead. "It's this . . . stuff, like quicksand, but I think it's alive!"</p><p>They saw the other flashlight down the beach and ran for that, Ford overtaking and passing his much younger great-nephew. "Wendy!" he yelled.</p><p>"Hurry, dude! It's pulling the women out further!"</p><p>They reached Wendy. The women, clinging to each other and wailing, were knee-deep already and steadily losing ground, being pulled toward the sea.</p><p>Ford yelled, "Catch! There's a loop—put it around both of your waists!"</p><p>They did, and with Wendy, Dipper, and Ford hauling, they pulled the two women free. One of them grabbed Ford and tried to shake him. "Elvina!" she said. "We lost Elvina in there! Get her out!"</p><p>"Dipper, take these ladies back to the house. Let them rest and have something to eat and drink if they want. Wendy, you stay with me. Dipper, when you come back—bring my backpack!"</p><hr/><p>It took the rest of that week for the police to come, for the twelve victims to be examined in the hospital—astonishingly, no one (and no dog) seemed to have been seriously harmed. As to what had happened—</p><p>Everyone professed amnesia. Every human, that is. The dog wasn't talking. The frustrated officials finally decided the survivors must have been so traumatized that they'd lost their memories.</p><p>When at last the sheriff told the Pines group they were free to go, Mabel, Ford, Wendy, and Dipper decided to stay another two days to wind down.</p><p>At the table that evening, Mabel said, "I still don't understand what happened. The sand was alive?"</p><p>"No," Ford said. "The matrix in which it was suspended was alive. It's like an amoeba—an amorphous semi-liquid mass of protoplasmic material and salt water. When I talked to it—"</p><p>"Yeah, how did you do that, Dr. P?" asked Wendy. "I mean, I saw the stethoscope thingy, but—"</p><p>"It's something I picked up in my interdimensional wanderings," Ford said. "A universal translator. It analyzes thought patterns, turns them into comprehensible language or alternatively in thought waves, and it works in reverse to allow me to communicate with other beings."</p><p>"OK, one more time," Mabel said. "Where did it come from, where did it go to, and what does it want?"</p><p>Ford tented his twelve fingers. "First, it is an ancient life form. It originated perhaps a billion years ago, right here on Earth. It began as a single-celled organism, but unlike the amoeba, it never reproduced by fission. It never reproduced at all—it simply grew larger over the eons. Normally it lives by seeping through sand at the very bottom of the sea, absorbing liquid organic nutrients. But not long ago, an oil spill drove it from its habitat. It was searching for a way to the open sea—it has very limited sensory perception and not much comprehension of directions."</p><p>"So it was eating people?" Mabel asked.</p><p>"Actually, no. It was seeking help. Generally, it let multicellular life forms pass through it. As they were inside its substance, somehow it provided them with oxygen and nutrients. It chose to trap the recent victims because it was lost and bewildered and needed assistance. It recognized that the dog and the people were living things—but it couldn't find a way to communicate its dilemma. It kept trying to trap someone or something that could understand and help it."</p><p>"Grunkle Ford told it to go south—"</p><p>"It was a little more complex, but yes," Ford said.</p><p>Dipper smiled. "Well, to go south and then when it gets to really deep water to turn east and continue. That'll take it into the Atlantic, where in the deepest part oil spills won't bother it."</p><p>"I'll miss Muffin," Mabel said. "I want to get a dog. Waddles needs company."</p><p>"The family from North Carolina was sure glad to get him back," Wendy said. "You did the right thing, Mabes."</p><p>"Anyway," Dipper said, "I'm glad we didn't have to kill the creature."</p><p>"Well, it was here long before mankind was," Ford said. "I'd hardly think we'd have any right to try to destroy something so ancient and unique."</p><p>That was that. The next morning they planned to drive back to Tallahassee, and from there fly back to Gravity Falls.</p><p>But there was a little unfinished business. As they left the house, the new crescent moon was no longer visible, but that night the stars were bright, and Wendy said, "Time for that walk, Dip."</p><p>Far down the beach, with no bubbling quicksand to worry about, she pulled him close. "Dip, man, thanks for keeping your wits about you. For letting me throw you free. For pulling me out and thinking clearly."</p><p>"Hey," he said, "you saved my life, remember. You don't need to thank me."</p><p>She embraced him and brought her face close to his, her breath warm. "Let's thank each other, and do it properly," she said.</p><p>This time their lips were too busy to form words.</p><hr/><p>
  <em>The End</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Potion Notions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This story is in response to the prompt for Wendip Week: Saturday, July 26-What if the Love potion hit Wendy and Dipper?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Potion Notions</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>(Woodstick 2012)</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>"Match made!" Mabel exclaimed as Tambry and Robbie walked out of Greasy's Diner arm in arm and—this was the critical thing—left Tambry's phone behind on the table. Her plan had succeeded, and the love powder she had filched from Love God's belt and liberally sprinkled on their order of fries had worked like a, well, like a charm!</p><p>Not long after that, she started to have second thoughts. First Lee and Nate squabbled over who had liked Tambry first, then Wendy wigged out about Tambry going behind her back to date her ex, and all of them refused to go to Woodstick. To top it off with a very sour cherry, Thompson complained that Mabel had wrecked his whole life because he had painfully achieved entry into the posse by deliberately doing dumb, humiliating things. Being the butt monkey wasn't much, but it gave him a place in the group.</p><p>Mabel still had a pinch of the hot-pink love-potion powder. She thought about dumping it, but—maybe she should save it just in case of an emergency. So she put it into a small baggie and tucked it away.</p><p>But then she and Dipper faced the problem of making Tambry and Robbie fall out of love, so the group could go back to the way things were. They tried to steal Love God's anti-love potion, the angry cherub got involved, a flaming Grunkle Stan head mysteriously fell from the sky, they had their shot but for the first time since she'd met Robbie, he looked so happy that Mabel simply didn't have to heart to pull the trigger to end their romance.</p><p>Then when the concert's security guards discovered Thompson trying to smuggle snacks in, he climbed out of their reach and got caught dangling like a human piñata. Everyone, including the kids, laughed at him, and Wendy's group of friends coalesced again, with the only difference being that Tambry and Robbie were now an item.</p><p>That evening, a tired but happy audience broke up and set off for home—Robbie even walked Tambry home, which took him a mile and a half out of his own way. Wendy said to Dipper and Mabel, "Come on, dorks, I'll walk you back to the Shack. I got my bike stashed there so I can ride home."</p><p>They arrived at the Shack to find that Stan was still out. He was probably in the police station, Dipper thought, answering questions about an unlicensed balloon that did a Hindenburg dive onto a (fortunately) immortal musician.</p><p>"Midnight snack!" Mabel said as they trudged in.</p><p>"Mabes," Wendy said, "it's two A.M."</p><p>"Two A.M. snack!" Mabel corrected. "We have some left-over brownies! And there's some vanilla ice cream in the freezer! Brownie Sundaes all around! Dip, come help me! Wendy, you want one, don't you?"</p><p>"I suppose," she said, yawning. "Stan already said the Shack won't open until like noon tomorrow anyhow, so I guess I can sleep in."</p><p>"Break out the brownies!" Mabel said.</p><p>She took the tub of ice cream—very solidly frozen—and set it on the counter while she dug out the scoop from the utensil drawer. Then she stood on a chair and rummaged in a cabinet, finding some mini-chocolate chips, a canister with some chopped walnuts, and an unopened snack pack of peanuts. She didn't notice, but as she stretched up, a baggie with a smidgen of pink powder fell from her sweater down onto the counter.</p><p>Meanwhile, Dipper had found three leftover brownies in the fridge. He wrapped them in paper towels and briefly warmed them in the microwave. On the other side of the fridge, Mabel grunted as she struggled with the scoop. "Brobro, can you help me dip? Wendy, there's a can of whipped topping in the fridge!"</p><p>Wendy opened the refrigerator. Dipper came and helped sink the ice-cream scoop into the frozen vanilla ice cream. Wendy set the warmed-up brownies nearby, then got three small plates. Dipper and Mabel pried out one scoop and plopped it onto the first brownie.</p><p>"Doctor it up!" Mabel told Wendy, who took it back to the counter with the toppings.</p><p>Wendy asked, "What do you want on yours, Dipper?"</p><p>"Little of everything," Dipper said. He set a second ice-cream-topped brownie on the counter. "Here's yours. Mabel's going for extra scoops on her helping."</p><p>So Wendy sprinkled Dipper's brownie with chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, a few peanuts, and a sprinkle of what she thought was pink sugar, and then spritzed on a swirl of topping.</p><p>She did the same for her own serving.</p><p>"Mabel, what do you want?" she asked.</p><p>"Um . . . chocolate chips and peanuts, that's all. And whipped topping! You guys dig in, I'll fix mine."</p><p>Dipper and Wendy sat across from each other at the table and each ate a spoonful of the brownie Sundae. "Good!" Wendy said.</p><p>"Yeah. What's that sort of spicy taste, though? Little like cinnamon."</p><p>"Dunno, but I like it."</p><p>Mabel had noticed a now-empty baggie on the counter, didn't think anything about it, and tossed it in the trash. She brought to the table her own Sundae, heaped high with ice cream and topping and started to demolish it with accompanying <em>nom-nom</em> noises.</p><p>Wendy leaned across the table. "Here, Dip, you got a little drip of ice cream there. I got it." She dabbed at his chin with a napkin. She slowed. She took a long time. "You got real nice lips," she said in a dreamy voice. "I never noticed."</p><p>"Thanks," he said. "I don't think I ever told you how pretty your eyes are. So green!"</p><p>She shrugged and grinned. "We had a long day, huh? But I guess it was . . . worth . . . Dipper, why'd you change your shirt? I liked you in that V-neck, man."</p><p>"Mabel said I couldn't pull it off," he said. "I like your outfit, Wendy. It's kind of exciting to see your belly button."</p><p>They gazed into each other's eyes as they ate the rest of their Sundaes. "Hate to leave, but I better go," Wendy said, still in that sultry, whispery voice.</p><p>Dipper hopped up and cleared their dishes from the table. Mabel was still scraping her plate for remnants of chocolate and vanilla. "'Night," Mabel mumbled.</p><p>Dipper caught up with Wendy in the gift shop. "I'll walk you out to your bike."</p><p>However, on the porch, Wendy sat on the top step and patted the spot beside her. Dipper sat—and they instantly fell into an embrace, kissing each other. "Man!" Wendy said. "This is so bad—I mean, you're twelve!"</p><p>"It doesn't matter," Dipper said, panting. "I'll do anything for you—everything for you. Oh, Wendy!" With sudden bravery, he kissed her again.</p><p>They snuggled, and Wendy slid her hand inside his shirt and ran it over his chest. He lost his breath. "I—I like that. I'd like to—um—"</p><p>She wriggled her shoulders. "Try my tummy, man."</p><p>It was so tempting, exposed by her hippie-girl costume. He began to stroke the warm swell, pausing to put a fingertip in her navel. That made her shudder and gasp. "Ooh! Do that with your tongue!" she said, lying back.</p><p>She lay back and Dipper bent over her.</p><p>The door opened and Mabel said, "Well, that was delici—what the <em>hey</em>!"</p><p>By then Wendy was writhing and panting, "Yes! Yes!"</p><p>Dipper was making inarticulate sounds.</p><p>"You guys, stop it!" Mabel said. "It's too dark for a blackmail picture!"</p><p>But Wendy clasped Dipper's head against her stomach, running her fingers through his hair. "Oh, that's so good! Don't stop! I'll do something nice for you!"</p><p>"Wendy, Dipper, stop it!" Mabel yelled. "Do I have to pour ice water on you?"</p><p>A few moments later, Wendy shrieked and Dipper gasped. "That's <em>cold!</em>"</p><p>Wendy brushed her wet hair back from her face, an ice cube clattering down to the porch. "What the heck, Mabes?"</p><p>Mabel inserted herself between her soaking brother and Wendy, both of them still gasping from the shock of freezing-cold water. "No, nuh-uh, no way! You stay <em>there</em> and you stay <em>there</em>! Cool it, guys! This isn't real. I know what happened—you had some love potion!"</p><p>For a second, Dipper and Wendy was quiet. Then Wendy said, "OK with me! Come here, Dipper! I want you! Kiss me again!"</p><p>"I'm fine with that!" Dipper said. "Move, Mabel, let Wendy and me make out!"</p><p>Mabel expertly blocked him. "I'll smack you with a rolled-up newspaper! Stop it!"</p><p>Wendy purred, "But I want him to undress me—"</p><p>Dipper whispered, "—and caress her all over her body—"</p><p>Mabel stayed between them. "Augh! Am I hearing this? Are you guys <em>saying</em> this? Come on, you're movie buddies! You're co-workers! You're my dippy brother and a cool teen girl! Dip, you're too young for Wendy—"</p><p>"He'll grow!" Wendy said. "Just give us some space, Mabel!"</p><p>"No way!"</p><p>"Aw—" Dipper complained. "I let you kiss Mermando!"</p><p>"A goodbye kiss! That's way different! What you're doing leads to trouble! And babies!"</p><p>"Come on, Mabes," Wendy wheedled. "You'll be an aunt! You can babysit!"</p><p>"Dipper! Take your hand off Wendy's chest!"</p><p>He laughed. "First base, Mabel! I'll bet you've never—"</p><p>Wendy rolled her shoulders back. "Do it again, Dipper, I like it!"</p><p>Mabel stamped her foot. "I swear, I'll call Blubs and Durland! Stop it! Will you two<em> listen</em> to me for five seconds? This isn't real, it's the love potion making you feel that way! Listen, we ate fifteen minutes ago and that's when you got it. Will you just wait an hour and forty-five minutes?"</p><p>"Huh?" Dipper asked.</p><p>"I read the warning label! It says that the potion's effects only last two hours—unless the couple is Meant to Be, and then it's permanent! Please—Brobro, stop hugging her and listen to me. If you'll just wait in separate rooms until two hours pass, then if you still feel the same way, I won't try to keep you from doing anything! Even each other! I promise!"</p><p>It took a lot of persuading and appeals to Dipper's logical, scientific side, but finally, reluctantly, he and Wendy agreed to the test of time. Mabel sent Dipper to the attic, where she shut the door. "You stay there!" she said, using a chair she'd pulled out to wedge beneath the doorknob.</p><p>Wendy called out, with a moan, "I love you so much, dude!"</p><p>"Oh, Wendy! I adore you!"</p><p>"Let me go see him, Mabel, I have to kiss him goodbye."</p><p>"No way, Wendy!"</p><p>Dipper's muffled voice called, "You're just mean, Sis!"</p><p>Mabel took Wendy's hand. "Come down to the dining room," she said. "Just the bottom of the stairs. We'll wait it out."</p><p>However, Dipper phoned Wendy and they talked through the rest of the two hours, fantasizing and giving Mabel a number of ideas about what the future might hold for her and some lucky guy. Maybe more than one guy.</p><p>Slowly, toward the end of the two-hour period, Wendy started to nod and slur her words. Dipper's own declarations of love slowed and he sounded ready to drop.</p><p>Wendy leaned forward and fell asleep. Dipper didn't seem to notice. After a few minutes, Mabel tiptoed upstairs and opened the door to their room. Dipper wasn't even in bed. He'd been sitting on the floor, leaning against the braced door, but he'd slipped down onto his side and was curled in a fetal position, sound asleep.</p><p>She shook him. "Brobro! Better wake up. It's nearly five in the morning. You need to wake up and go to bed!"</p><p>"Hmm?" Dipper stirred and then sat up, his head bobbing. "Mabel? What happened? Wow, I have a headache." He rubbed his forehead, blinking. "I had the best dream, though—"</p><p>"Wendy's downstairs. I'm gonna go ask her if she wants to sack out on the cot in the break room. It's too late for her to try to go home."</p><p>"I'll go with you."</p><p>They went down and there slumped Wendy, deep asleep, with her head resting on her forearms, her forearms on the table. "Wendy?" Mabel called.</p><p>Wendy stirred, grunted, and pushed herself up, rubbing her eyes. "Whoa, I totally dozed off there—Dipper!"</p><p>"Wendy."</p><p>"Man, I had this sweet dream. But weird!"</p><p>Dipper frowned. "I—did too. You and I were in love—"</p><p>"I was wanting to do the humpty bumpty with you!"</p><p>They both burst into embarrassed giggles, but then became serious and stared at each other. Dipper looked almost as if he were on the verge of tears. "It was that crazy love potion!"</p><p>"It wears off," Mabel said gently, "if you're not ready."</p><p>"Aw, man," Wendy said. "I feel kind of achy and hollow, remembering how sweet it felt being totally in love."</p><p>"Look," Mabel said, "You guys got to get some sleep. Dip, sack out on the sofa. Wendy, come up to our room. You can take Dipper's bed, or if that makes you feel weird, I'll take it and you can use mine."</p><p>"Yeah, that'll do it," Wendy said. "Dad won't miss me. He and his buddies went out when Woodstick wound up, and they'll be somewhere drinking."</p><p>Grunkle Stan trundled in around nine o'clock, didn't notice Dipper on the sofa, and went straight to bed. About forty minutes after that, Wendy woke up. Dipper woke almost at the same time. They met each other when she came downstairs.</p><p>Dipper looked so forlorn that Wendy hugged him. "Don't take it so hard, dude," she whispered. "If it wore off, it just means it's not our time. Not yet."</p><p>In the warmth of her arms, he dared to murmur, "But maybe later?"</p><p>She ruffled his hair. "Yeah, dude, who knows? I don't feel that kind of crazy stupid love right now, but there's definitely affection. Let's wait. Later on, the age difference won't mean so much. Maybe I could wait for you."</p><p>"If you would, that'd be—I'll grow up fast as I can," he promised.</p><p>She held him tight, then leaned down and kissed him on the mouth. "Just a promise, Dip. I'll be up for whatever happens. Now that me and Robbie are broke up, I'm not exactly in any hurry to find another jerky boyfriend my own age. So—best I can say is maybe, man. I promise to try and wait for you."</p><p>"And I won't get mixed up with girls my age," Dipper promised.</p><p>As vows, they weren't binding. They weren't even close to marriage vows. However, as they gazed into each other's eyes, each had the feeling that the moment was an important one for the future.</p><p>They sealed the deal with one last kiss.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>The End</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Time Slip</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This story is not in my AU, but is written in response to the prompt for Wendip Week: July 27th - What if Dipper and Wendy were the same age?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>I do not own the show Gravity Falls or any of the characters. They are the property of the Walt Disney Company and of the show's creator, Alex Hirsch. I earn no money from writing my fanfictions; I do them out of love for the show, for practice writing, and to amuse myself and, I hope, other readers.</em>
</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>Time Slip</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>(Weirdmageddon 2012)</em>
</p><hr/><p>Triumph and loss.</p><p>Ford and Stan's trick had worked. Bill Cipher had been conned into invading Stan's mind, not Ford's, and then Ford used the memory eraser to remove Stan's memories—and the immaterial form of Cipher. The instant that happened, the Fearamid began to fragment and descend, the blocks of the disintegrating structure tumbling not down, but up, toward the shrinking fiery X in the sky.</p><p>Cipher's henchmaniacs got caught in the updraft, levitating, struggling—and one of them, Pyronica, whirled past the disintegrating pyramid, lashed out her toad-like tongue, and snared Dipper's ankle. He yelped as he felt himself tugged out of the descending Fearamid, into the air, and through the closing rift—</p><p>"Where's Dipper?" Mabel screamed. "Brobro! Did he fall out or something?"</p><p>At that moment, several things happened at once. The remnants of the Fearamid settled to earth in the woods about a mile from the Shack. Aside from the Pines family, all the other Gravity Fallers who'd been aboard saw a brilliant flash of light that instantly transported them elsewhere. Wendy found herself in the town square. Fiddleford McGucket materialized on top of a delivery van near Greasy's Diner.</p><p>But Grunkle Stan was still kneeling, Ford standing protectively over him, and Mabel settled to earth only a few feet away—and a little farther off, the stone effigy of Bill Cipher, the last remnant of his physical form, landed on soft earth and immediately tilted.</p><p>"Where's Dipper?" Mabel asked frantically. "Grunkle Ford, where is he?"</p><p>"I—think something pulled him out of the structure," Ford said. He blinked and shaded his eyes, staring at the sky. The rift had vanished. "I, uh, well, I think I saw the extradimensional beings that invaded along with Cipher being swept through the dimensional fissure. Perhaps Dipper—Mabel, first please help me get Stanley back home, and then I'll see if I can locate your brother."</p><p>By the time they settled Stanley, dazed and not recognizing them or even his surroundings, into his favorite chair, Mabel was hysterical. Ford gave his brother an injection—a sedative, because he wasn't sure how Stan would react if he panicked because of his amnesia—and then when Stan nodded off, he took Mabel down to his lab and switched on computermajigs and scanamaroos and other esoteric equipment, muttering, "No . . . no . . . not there . . . why didn't I tag you two with locaters?"</p><p>"Yo!" a familiar voice called from the stairs. "Anybody home?"</p><p>"Wendy!" Mabel yelled. She ran to the foot of the stairs. "Come on down—Wendy, something terrible happened!"</p><p>Wendy clattered down the steps. "What?" she asked in a voice sharp with dread. "Stan's sleeping in his chair. Where's Dipper?"</p><p>Mabel flung herself into Wendy's arms and sobbed as she tried to explain he was missing. Wendy couldn't make out a word of it. Ford tersely explained that Dipper had somehow been swept out of the Fearamid and now he couldn't find any trace of him even on his most sensitive instruments.</p><p>"We crash-landed in the woods," Mabel said.</p><p>Wendy said, "You guys hang tight here. I'll go search the woods. Got my phone, and it still has like a thirty per cent charge, so I'll check in and definitely call if I find him."</p><p>"You shouldn't go alone," Ford said.</p><p>"No time to round up a search party. I'll call soon as I have news." She ran up the stairs.</p><p>Mabel looked at Ford with an anguished expression. "You didn't want her to go because you think she may find him dead!"</p><p>Ford couldn't meet her gaze and looked away, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "No, no, it's just—"</p><p>One of the instruments chimed.</p><p>Ford spun around and looked at the display. "Oh, no," he said. "Oh, no, no, no."</p><p>"What? Is he dead?" Mabel crumpled to the floor, as if her legs couldn't hold her up.</p><p>"No, but—well—Mabel, this is only a simulation based on probability theory—"</p><p>She leaped up and pounded on his chest. "Tell me!"</p><p>"—it suggests Dipper was pulled through the closing rift. He may be lost in the dimensions—if he's lucky."</p><p>"What if he's not?"</p><p>"Then he's in the Nightmare Realm."</p><hr/><p>Mabel nixed the idea of calling her parents. "We can't tell them we lost him! We gotta get him back!"</p><p>For twenty-four hours straight, Ford and Fiddleford worked without a meal or a wink of sleep, doing something that Ford had sworn he would never do: Repair the broken Portal.</p><p>Because as nearly as he could tell, Dipper was in another dimension somewhere. The only possible way of determining that was to do a dimensional sweep, as Stan had done to locate his long-lost brother. "The trail will be fresher," Ford said. "So we should be able to locate him quickly if we can get it up and working."</p><p>Meanwhile, Mabel worked with Stanley. She'd hit on the idea of reminding him of the summer by looking through her scrapbook with him. Slowly things began to click. He spontaneously recognized Waddles, then bit by bit began to recall little fragments of the summer. Mabel knew he had turned the corner when she pointed to a picture of the time she had been the boss and told him, "And this is the first refund I gave a customer—"</p><p>"No refunds!" Stan barked. Then he blinked and asked, "Pumpkin! I know you, don't I? You're Mabel!"</p><p>"You're going to be OK!" she said. But she wouldn't tell him why she kept crying at intervals.</p><hr/><p>Seventeen hours after Ford and Fiddleford reactivated the Portal, the readout flared and the generators whined. Wendy, hovering behind them, asked, "What does that mean?"</p><p>"It means we've located Dipper," Ford said.</p><p>"Is he OK?" Wendy asked.</p><p>"He's alive and moving. Wendy, you should get out of the area. There may be discharge effects—"</p><p>"Not one chance in hell," Wendy said. "I'm hanging here until you get Dipper back!"</p><p>"Shield your eyes," Fiddleford said. "It's peakin' and then the passage is gonna op—"</p><p>Brilliant actinic light sizzled, and the portal filled with light. Fiddleford and Ford had strengthened the braces, so this time the triangular frame did not shake loose and fall, though for a moment everything not fastened down floated, free of gravity. Then the earth pulled it all down again, and—</p><p>A dim figure appeared in the swirl of light.</p><p>It leaped out of the portal and did a sort of superhero three-point landing, one fist on the floor, knees bent—</p><p>"Oh, my God!" Wendy said. "Is that—Dipper?"</p><p>The muscular young man straightened. He blinked. In an unexpectedly deep voice, he asked, "Wendy?"</p><p>She ran to help him stand. Fiddleford had killed the current and the Portal glimmered and went dark. Then Wendy was looking up at Dipper's face.</p><p>
  <em>Up.</em>
</p><p>Because he was a little taller than she was. "What happened?" he asked. "Why do you still look fifteen? I'm eighteen now!"</p><p>Ford asked, "Mas—I mean, Dipper—how long have you been gone?"</p><p>"Grunkle Ford?" he asked. "How long have I—it's been six years. Six whole years!"</p><p>"Oh, my word," Ford said. "You've been in Dimension X/L-700!"</p><p>They heard footsteps clattering on the stairs.</p><p>Mabel came tearing in. "What the heck is going on? All the fuses upstairs blew—whoa! Who are you?"</p><p>"Mabel!" Dipper said, turning toward her.</p><p>Now, he was undeniably tall. And his hair was long, down to his shoulders, a mane that did not quite equal Wendy's, and he had a definite stubbly beard. He wore a roughly-sewn coarse linen tunic, hanging open in the front over his bare chest. He wore knee-length shorts, again obviously home-made, and sandals woven from tightly-bundled straw and fastened on by leather thongs that crisscrossed his calves. And he was so tan—</p><p>"Dipper?" Mabel asked in pure astonishment. "Where'd you get <em>abs</em>?"</p><hr/><p>Dipper tried to explain everything upstairs. Grunkle Stan did not recognize him at all.</p><p>"This devil-woman dragged me through the rift," he said. "And for a minute I was in the Nightmare Realm, but all of Bill's henchmen were being sucked through these portals that would, I don't know, just flicker on and then disappear as soon as a creature went through—"</p><p>"The henchmen were being returned to their own realms," Ford said. "Only Cipher's willpower could have kept that from happening. Good evidence that he's really gone. What happened then, Dipper?"</p><p>"I got pulled through a portal, too," Dipper said. "Into this place where humanoid dogs were the dominant species—"</p><p>That was the first of about six different dimensions that he sped through—but then he wound up in the one where he stayed for six years. "It was a medieval kind of place," Dipper said, frowning. "I fell in with the Tyrunas. They're little people about Mabel's height—"</p><p>"Hey!" Mabel objected.</p><p>"—and they'd only become civilized in the last two hundred years. The world—they call it Gania—is very lush, and they'd been hunter-gatherers, but they'd settled the delta between two rivers and had become farmers and built houses and all. But their deadly enemies, the Hideous Horde, were like Viking raiders. When the Tyrunas took me in, they were trying to recover from a terrible raid the Horde had pulled off. I mean, they had to rebuild every house. Now, I couldn't find a natural portal anywhere—"</p><p>"Only about one out of every hundred possible dimensions develop them," Ford said. "That was my problem, too. The only way back, unless the artificial Portal I'd built was operating, was through the Nightmare Realm."</p><p>"I didn't know that," Dipper said. "Anyway, I helped them rebuild and taught them a few things about farming—"</p><p>"What do you know about farming?" Mabel asked.</p><p>Dipper shrugged. "Well, I knew that fields are more fertile if the crops are rotated. I knew about natural fertilizers like fish and animal dung. Stuff like that."</p><p>"So you got them on their feet again?" Wendy asked.</p><p>"Sort of, but they were pretty ignorant about defending themselves, too. I mean, they didn't have much concept of fighting—they were afraid of the Horde and when the Raiders attacked, the Tyrunas just ran away. I organized a defense force. In fact, when the portal suddenly opened and pulled me in, we were expecting an invasion—"</p><p>"It's out of your hands now," Ford said gently. "By now the battle's been over for weeks in their time line."</p><p>"What are we gonna do?" Mabel asked. "I can't take Brobro back home looking so hot! I mean looking like that!"</p><p>"He <em>does </em>look hot," Wendy agreed.</p><p>"All right," Ford said. "Dipper, my brother is struggling to recover his memories. Fiddleford is going to run a series of tests on you. Mabel and I will have to deal with Stanley, so you'll be on your own for a day or—"</p><p>"I'll take care of him," Wendy said.</p><p>Dipper blushed. "You look so good!" he told her.</p><hr/><p>That evening, Ford and Mabel took Stan on a tour of the Falls. He was getting better, but he needed to see things—or photos—to remember them.</p><p>Wendy said she'd stay with Dipper. Soos was dispatched to the Mercantile to buy some clothes that might fit Dipper—Wendy measured him and weighed him. She also had him put his feet on sheets of print-out paper while she traced them, because he needed shoes, too.</p><p>Soos did the errand and dropped the clothes off at the Shack, then apologetically left. "After being a reclining chair and all, Abuelita's still a little confused," he said. "I gotta help her adjust."</p><p>"Come on, dude," Wendy said. "You look real buff and all, but you smell kinda sweaty. Before you get into clean clothes, into the shower!"</p><p>"Do I have to?" Dipper asked. Then he grinned, and grinning, his stubbled face looked cocky and confident. And, um, attractive. Handsome, even. Dreamy, Wendy thought. She could—she snapped herself out of it.</p><p>"Definitely!" she said.</p><p>He smiled at her. "Just kidding. I got over my bathing phobia in the last six years."</p><p>Wendy crossed her arms. "Yeah, well, just to be sure, I'm gonna watch you."</p><p>And . . . she did. She even helped out. There were places that Dipper just couldn't reach to scrub.</p><p>They retired to the bedroom so Dipper could try on the new clothes, but the two of them took a little together time first. "Mm," Wendy said as her breathing returned to normal. "Dipper, I gotta say it—you've grown into my dream guy!"</p><p>"You were always my dream girl," he said, kissing her bare stomach.</p><p>He didn't try shaving, since he'd never done it. Wendy helped him dress—she actually knelt down and held the boxer shorts for him to step into. "So long for now, Little Dipper," she said softly as she tugged the underwear into place.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"Nothing," Wendy said, hopping up. "Here's the tee shirt."</p><p>"No, I want to get one of the Gravity Falls tees from the shop," Dipper said. "I dreamed of this place—and you—every night for six whole years."</p><p>So he put on the cargo pants and the socks and the sneakers, and then they went down to the gift shop. Dipper picked out a red shirt with a color image of the Shack on the chest and the yellow motto underneath: WHAT IS THE MYSTERY SHACK?</p><p>Then they took a walk down to the place where, after they had explored the Bunker, Wendy had gently friend-zoned Dipper. They sat on the same log. "I guess," Dipper said, "after, um, the shower, and, you know—the bedroom—we might be a little more than friends?"</p><p>"Yeah," Wendy said as she nuzzled his neck. "I think so, too."</p><p>"So—" He took a deep breath. "I think in Oregon a girl can get married as early as fifteen if she has parental permission. Will you marry me, Wendy?"</p><p>She bit her lip. "Give me a couple of years," she said. "Let me at least get out of high school."</p><p>"I'm not going home," he said. "Not back to Piedmont. I'm staying in Gravity Falls. I can still be Ford's apprentice. Is that OK with you?"</p><p>"It's perfect for me."</p><p>They spent some time snuggling.</p><hr/><p>But, wouldn't you know it, happy endings are hard to come by. The next morning Dipper woke up, plodded into the bathroom, and stared at his reflection in the mirror.</p><p>His stubble was gone, just thin and patchy now, like a fifteen-year-old's first attempt at a beard. His hair was shorter.</p><p>And his abs had diminished.</p><p>And . . .</p><p>He rushed to find Ford, who put him through a battery of tests. "The effects are reversing," Ford told him. "You're de-aging. You're about sixteen or maybe fifteen now. In another couple of days you'll be back to normal."</p><p>Dipper's heart sank.</p><p>As soon as Wendy came in, she gave him a horrified, stricken look. "Dip! You're going backwards!"</p><p>They took that walk again.</p><p>Sitting on the log, Dipper said, "Grunkle Ford says I'll be twelve again in forty-eight hours. And I'm losing my memories of the Tyruna people. He told me I helped train them to defend themselves, but the last I remember, I was showing them what an arch was and how to build it."</p><p>"Did you forget . . . um, yesterday?" Wendy asked.</p><p>He took her hand. "I'll never forget that."</p><p>"Dip, I'm glad you'll be normal again. I'm also so sorry."</p><p>"I'm sorry, too. We were perfect together."</p><p>She kissed him. "We will be again," she whispered.</p><p>"Um—you mean-?" His heart throbbed with hope, and his voice faltered. He cleared his throat. "I was afraid to ask, but you mean—you'll wait for me?"</p><p>She smiled. "I've had the preview of coming attractions, man. Yeah, I'll wait! Because I know what I'm waiting for, and it's totally worth it!"</p><hr/><p>
  <em>The End</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Oh Mom! Oh Dad!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This story is not in my AU, but is written in response to the prompt for Wendip Week: July 28th - What if Wendip kids time traveled to the first summer?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Oh, Mom! Oh, Dad!</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>(July 28, 2012)</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>"What is it?" Danny asked his twin sister.</p><p>"It's a tape measure," Diana told him, holding it up. "I got it from Uncle Soos. He told Dad that it was a time machine."</p><p>"A tape measure's not a <em>time</em> machine," Danny said with all the assurance of a twelve-year-old. "A <em>time </em>machine's got like all these lights and wires and futuristic tubes and things all over it. It's not like a roll-up ruler!"</p><p>"Aunt Mabel says she and Dad traveled in time by using one of these," Diana said.</p><p>Danny said, "Phbbblt! She also tells us stories about fighting unicorns! And being the queen of her own world where she could do magic."</p><p>"You have no imagination," Diana said. "It could happen!"</p><p>The two Pines twins looked very much alike—both red-haired, both the same size. The twins were on the small side, but Mom said, "Chill, guys, with your genes you're gonna shoot up like weeds in your teens." Maybe because they were so much alike, sibling squabbling was one of their favorite pastimes, though it never became a blood sport. This time Wendy interrupted them before they really got going.</p><p>"Kids!" It was Mom's voice, calling from the foot of the stair.</p><p>Danny ran out of the attic room and stood at the top of the Mystery Shack stairway. "Yes, Mom?"</p><p>Diana stood behind her brother, the tape measure out of sight. "Here we are."</p><p>Wendy said, "Your father and I are going to drive over and see your grandpop. Want to come?"</p><p>Diana made a face. "We flew practically all night to get here. We're really, really tired. Do we have to?"</p><p>Their dad stepped into the foyer behind their mother. "Not necessarily," he said. "We're really just going over to give him an invitation that we already know he'll accept. Grandpop will be here tomorrow, and we're going to spend the day with him, our Grunkles, and Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez. Big picnic out at the lake. It's up to you guys—you're welcome to come if you want, but if you're OK staying here in the Shack—"</p><p>"Shack! Shack! Shack!" both twins chanted.</p><p>"OK, but tomorrow you have to be extra polite and nice to the grownups."</p><p>"We can do that," Danny said.</p><p>Wendy looked at Dipper. "Think it's safe?"</p><p>Dipper asked their son, "Will you both promise to stay in, or at least within sight of, the Shack? There might be some dangerous things out in the woods. Don't go out of the yard, right?"</p><p>"We promise!" Diana said.</p><p>Danny nodded. "Yeah, we promise."</p><p>Wendy said, "OK. We'll be back in a couple of hours. Behave yourself, and no playing with the exhibits in the Museum or the merchandise in the gift shop!"</p><p>"Gotcha, Mom!" Diana said.</p><p>"Yes, Mom," Danny said.</p><p>The parents left. Danny could hear Soos moving around in the gift shop—it was a Saturday, and in a few minutes the Shack would be open for business. Diana passed him and went quietly downstairs, motioning to Danny to follow. He did, but when she opened the Shack door, he said, "Hey, we're not supposed to go out!"</p><p>"No," Diana corrected him. "We're not supposed to go in the woods, you korkle! It's OK to play in the yard. We just can't go anyplace where we can't see the Shack."</p><p>She headed out, and he followed. For late July, it was a cool morning. They went to the old swing set out back. It really belonged to the Ramirez kids, but they were all in college or high school and didn't use it very much. They weren't even at home that day, but if they had been, they wouldn't mind, so Danny and Diana sat side by side while she toyed with the tape measure. "I knew it," she said. "It <em>is </em>a time machine! Just look!" she showed him the tape, which showed -<em>20/Y, </em>though it was pulled out only about ten inches.</p><p>"What's that even mean?" Danny asked, puzzling over the marking.</p><p>"It's obviously minus twenty years," Diana said. "I wonder how it works."</p><p>Danny reached over. "I think you push this button on the side here—"</p><p>A burst of light exploded silently, and then both the twins fell flat on their butts. "Hey!" Diana said, scrambling up and rubbing her rump. "What happened to the swings?"</p><p>"They disappeared!" Danny said. "The sun moved all the way across the sky! My gosh, what did that thing do?"</p><p>"Look at the Shack!" she yelled. "It's different!"</p><p>It definitely was smaller—a whole wing was gone. And it looked shabbier.</p><p>"I think we went ahead in time!" Danny said.</p><p>"No—back in time. This is before Uncle Soos built the extra rooms."</p><p>"Couldn't be."</p><p>"Come on—let's find out! Wait, is my butt muddy?"</p><p>"No, just some grass stains."</p><p>"That's OK. Grass stains are normal. Let's go!"</p>
<hr/><p>Whenever they had landed, it was obviously a hot summer afternoon. Danny pointed. "Look at the cars!" They were all really old-fashioned—none of them had levitation skirts, and they all had tires.</p><p>Diana blinked "And the clothes!" People were making their way into the gift-shop door. Some of the guys were wearing shorts, exposing their legs, and some of the women had their legs covered in slacks or jeans. That was just the opposite to the way adults dressed in 2032. When a guy reached his mid-teens, he always wore long pants, even for swimming trunks, and girls wore very short skirts or shorts all the time, even in winter. It looked indecent, those knobby male knees and hidden female legs.</p><p>"Come on," Danny said.</p><p>"Where are you going?"</p><p>"Inside—wait, let me have the tape measure." He stuffed it in the leg pocket of his jeans. "OK, don't tell anybody we have this. Let's go."</p><p>They pushed through the door right behind a family of four, trying to look like they belonged.</p><p>"Looks nearly the same," Diana whispered. The merchandise was a little different, but it still was a shop with shelves of weird junk. A teen girl with incredibly long red hair lazed at the checkout counter, her scandalously covered legs clad in jeans. She was wearing some kind of weird hat. A brown-haired boy about Danny's age was wielding a spray bottle and cloth to polish the glass jars of eyeballs.</p><p>They heard a man's gravelly voice saying, ". . . and that's the mysterious ape-man, boss of the woods, the Sascrotch! Step this way, ladies and gentlemen, for your chance to purchase befuddling and bewildering souvenirs of your trip to the Mystery Shack, the most mysterious and shackiest place on Earth!"</p><p>"That's Grunkle Stan!" Danny said. "But a lot younger!"</p><p>"We really did go back in time!" Diana said.</p><p>A brown-haired, sweater-clad girl said, "'Scuse me" and pushed past them. "Good afternoon, lady!" the girl said as she approached a browsing tourist. "I see you're admiring that tee shirt. Look over here on this rack. The same design, but these have minor little flaws that nobody will ever notice, and they're only half as much!"</p><p>"Mabel!" Stan said. "Don't ise-way upway ethay arksmay!"</p><p>"We're in a different universe," Danny said. "He's speaking Russian or something! What is it?" His sister was nudging him.</p><p>"Look at the girl in the blue sweater!" Diana whispered. "She's Aunt Mabel!"</p><p>"She—wait, what?"</p><p>Now he could see it. The girl in the sweater, dark blue with lighter blue stars, did look like a kid version of their glamorous aunt Mabel. Which meant—</p><p>Danny tugged at his sister's sleeve. "The kid with the glass spray—that's Dad!"</p><p>It was hard to see—of course, the twelve-year-old boy across the room didn't have a goatee and his hair was messy instead of being neatly styled, but—yeah. Dad!</p><p>Which meant—</p><p>Diana had realized it at the same moment. "That's Mom at the counter!"</p><p>"We gotta speak to her!" Danny said. He looked around and picked up a postcard. "Come on."</p><p>He led his sister to the cash register, and Wendy put her teen magazine down. "What'll it be, guys?" she asked amiably.</p><p>Danny held up the postcard. "How much is this?"</p><p>"Two dollars," she said, and sure enough, that was their mom's voice.</p><p>"Oh," Danny said. "OK, I guess I won't get it. I think you're very pretty!"</p><p>The girl laughed. "I'm flattered. Hey, are you guys twins?"</p><p>"Yes," Diana said. "Your hair's beautiful! So long and red!"</p><p>"You guys are redheads, too!" she said "Sweet. How old are you?"</p><p>"Twelve," they said in unison.</p><p>"Hey, Dipper! Mabel! Come here a minute."</p><p>They came over right away. Wendy said, "Look at this! These guys are twins, too, just like you!"</p><p>"That's so rad!" Mabel squealed. "Hi, I'm Mabel Pines. I have a pig, and I'm the Alpha twin. This is Dipper. He's the Beta twin, but he's good at it. You could say he's the master Beta!"</p><p>"Mabel!" Dipper howled.</p><p>"Oops, got some customers comin' up," Wendy said. The four kids stepped aside as grown-ups bought their swag.</p><p>"What are your names?" Mabel asked.</p><p>Before Danny could answer, Diana said, "He's Charlie, I'm Charlene. Um, Charlie and Charlene Cashregister—"</p><p>Danny elbowed her. "It's Cash," he said. "That's just a joke our dad tells. Nobody is really named Cashregister."</p><p>"Where are you guys from?" Mabel asked. "We're from Piedmont, California!"</p><p>"We're from Sacorra," Diana said.</p><p>When they looked blank, Danny said, "Vermont. It's a state."</p><p>"Oh, sure," Mabel said, though Dipper still looked puzzled.</p><p>"Our mom and dad are professors at the International Institute of Arcane Science," Diana gushed.</p><p>Her brother nudged her again. "We're on vacation right now," he said. "Our parents are around somewhere."</p><p>"Probably going on the tour," Mabel said. "Stan is loading it up now. If you want to go—"</p><p>"Thanks! See you!" Danny said. He tugged Diana out of the gift shop and toward the waiting tram. "Listen, we'll get in trouble if we talk to everybody," he said. "We're bound to mess up. I forgot, but this is back when people used money to buy things! Remember, Dad has those metal things and pieces of paper?"</p><p>"Oh, yeah," Diana said. "So are we gonna go on the tour?"</p><p>He pointed at a sign. "It's twenty dollars. And I'm not even real sure what one of those is! Anyway, I'd be scared to ride on that thing—it's got tires."</p><p>"There it goes, anyway. So what do we do?"</p><p>"Let's sneak in through the Museum. We can hide and look at Mom and Dad and Aunt Mabel."</p><p>"I wonder if Mom and Dad are already meechies?" Diana asked.</p><p>"You know Mom doesn't like us to use slang like that. Say, uh, sweeties. That's what Aunt Mabel calls us, so it shouldn't sound as bad."</p><p>They crept out and hid behind some shelves. Dipper and Mabel were talking, when suddenly Mabel began to jitter around, humming. They heard her say, "Let's talk about why I'm doing this dance!"</p><p>Their dad groaned, "Oh, no! She got into the Smile Dip again!"</p><p>"Wrong one thousand!" Mabel exclaimed.</p><p>The Pines twins held their breath. Mabel and her friends—two of them came inside—were going to see a concert by Sev'ral Timez, whoever that was. Some kind of musical group, it sounded like. Dipper and Wendy pooh-poohed the band, who they said were probably grown from pods. "Aw," Diana whispered, "They're ganging up on Mabel. That means they're already in love!"</p><p>But after Mabel, Grenda and Candy had left—</p><p>"Who's that?" Diana asked as a black-haired guy, lugging a machine of some kind, came in.</p><p>Crouching inside a carousel of clothes, both Danny and Diana cautioned each other, "Sh!"</p><p>The newcomer was talking to their mom: ". . . So Wendy, Nate and his girlfriend are going to Lookout Point this weekend. Maybe we should go too?"</p><p>And angrily, Wendy said, "Are you kidding me? First you stand me up last night! And instead of apologizing, you want me to go to Lookout Point?"</p><p>"What?" squeaked Diana.</p><p>As they watched, shocked, this new guy—Robbie, Wendy called him—hit on Wendy and even played a song for her. Diana grabbed Danny's arm, making him grunt. Then—yuck!—their mom promised to go with Robbie and actually kissed him! On the lips!</p><p>"Hey," Danny whispered, "that music disk has to be a mentabender!"</p><p>"That's like an electrode thing! Can sounds bend minds?"</p><p>"Oh, yeah," Danny said. "I've learned about it in science history. Sounds can affect the mind, like hypnotics or memory replacement headsets!"</p><p>After Robbie and Wendy walked out together, Diana whispered, "We gotta tell Dad about this."</p><p>Danny said, "We might change history!"</p><p>"I'm not gonna have that big-nosed, black-haired liar for a dad! We gotta!"</p><p>"Maybe just a hint," Danny said.</p><p>So they pretended to be leaving as Dipper picked up the disk and stared at it in puzzlement.</p><p>"Goodbye, Dipper!" Diana said. "Nice meeting you—hey, is that a music disk?"</p><p>Dipper held it up. "Yeah, but I think a guy just recorded it. I mean it's not a regular CD."</p><p>"Whoa," Danny said. "You know those can hypnotize people."</p><p>"Wait, what?" Dipper asked.</p><p>"Mom and Dad are waiting!" Diana said, dragging Danny out.</p><p>"Why are you shoving?" he asked out on the lawn.</p><p>"I feel funny," Diana complained.</p><p>"Stomach fluttering?</p><p>"Uh-huh."</p><p>"I think we've been in the past too long. Can we get back?"</p><p>"The tape turns over. I'll set it to +20/Y."</p><p>They flashed the weird light again—and then the swing set was back.</p><p>"Is my hair still red?" Diana asked, sounding worried. "Not black, but red?</p><p>"Yeah. I don't think we changed anything."</p><p>"What time is it?"</p><p>A low hum came from the driveway, and a sleek white vehicle glided into view. "Look, there's Dad and Mom's car coming back. We must have spent a couple of hours in the past."</p><p>The hovercar set down, and they went running.</p><p>"Hi, kids!" Dad said, adjusting his sunglasses.</p><p>"Mom!" Diana hugged Wendy. "We're so glad you didn't marry Robbie!"</p><p>"Marry Robbie?" she asked with a surprised expression. "How did you even learn about Robbie?"</p><p>Their dad was sharp-eyed as ever. "What are you hiding behind your back? Let me have that," Dipper said. "Oh, no. Danny, have you guys been playing around with time travel?"</p><p>"Maybe," Danny said.</p><p>"What did you do? asked Wendy in that you-can't-fib-to-Mom voice.</p><p>Diana squirmed. "Wellll . . .."</p><p>The whole story came out. "I'll get this back to Soos," Dipper said, hefting the time tape. "I'm pretty sure Blendin Blandin will turn up one of these days to collect it. You guys—you're really lucky."</p><p>"Yeah, we might've had that Robbie guy as a dad!" said Diana.</p><p>"Probably not," Wendy said. "But yeah, it's true that Dipper figured out how the recording had a hypnotic message and came and found me on my date with Robbie and showed me how Robbie had tricked me. It made me so mad—and so sad. And then your dad had the gall to ask me out when I was just trying to get over Robbie! I was really, really mad at him, and right at that moment I didn't think I'd ever even want to even be his friend again!"</p><p>"I handled it really badly. It took her days to get over that," Dipper said. "So you two were the ones who gave me the idea that there was a hidden message on the disk? I don't even remember that."</p><p>"At least there was no serious harm done," Wendy said. "It worked out all right. Eventually Dipper grew up, and I waited for him, and we got married."</p><p>"And you came along," Dipper said. "OK. Grandpa Dan definitely wants you to be at the picnic tomorrow. And you're going to be extra nice to him and to our Grunkles."</p><p>"Yes, Dad," Diana said.</p><p>"We're sorry," Danny said. "Are you going to punish us?"</p><p>"Yes, we are," Wendy said. "Dipper, put your arms around me—"</p><p>"No! Not that!" Diana pleaded.</p><p>"Sorry, kids, but you misbehaved," Dipper said.</p><p>Then he took Wendy in his arms, pulled her close, and they kissed passionately.</p><p>And both Danny and Diana wailed, "Ewwwww, Mom! Dad! <em>Ewwwww</em>!"</p>
<hr/><p>The End</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Out of the Bunker</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This story is not in my AU, but is written in response to the prompt for Wendip Week: July 29th - What if Wendy told Dipper she loved him at the end of into the bunker?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Wait, what? We're into Wednesday already? OK, I knew that next week my family's going to be off in the mountains, out of range of the Internet, so mine are appearing early.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>
  <strong>Out of the Bunker</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>(July 29, 2012)</em>
</p><hr/><p>Feeling—he didn't really know—exhausted, shaken, embarrassed, fearful, anxious, Dipper slumped on the log, and Wendy, bandaged and scratched, sat next to him. He realized she was expecting him to say something, and he didn't really have any idea what would come out. But he murmured, "Look, Wendy, about earlier. In the heat of the moment, I might have said some dumb things, and can't we pretend none of that ever happened? Please?"</p><p>She rubbed his back gently. "What dumb thing did you say, Dipper?"</p><p>He couldn't get up the nerve to look at her. He was afraid he'd begin to weep from pain and loss. "Um," he said. He took a deep breath. His throat ached. "I, um, I said I'd never been able to tell you, um—" he closed his eyes and blurted, "I'm in love with you, Wendy!"</p><p>Wendy said softly, "Aw, Dipper. I'm super flattered, but you know—I'm too old for you."</p><p>"I know," he said miserably. "And now you won't ever want to hang out with me again, or have me around, and we can't even be—" his voice caught, and brokenly he finished, "—friends."</p><p>"Hey, hey, hey," she said. "Don't be like that. Dipper, let me tell you something. This summer was super boring until you showed up. I have more fun with you than practically anybody else. And if you ever stopped being my friend, I would, like, throw myself into the Bottomless Pit!"</p><p>"I don't know if I can live with that, though," Dipper confessed. "Being around you but not able to get closer. Feeling about you the way I do and knowing you'll never feel the same way about me. Oh, Wendy!"</p><p>She leaned close enough to whisper in his ear. "Dude, let me admit something, OK? It's a secret, though. But I'll tell you if you—"</p><p>He pretended to zip his lips, lock them, and flick away the key.</p><p>Wendy took a deep, deep breath. "Here goes. I guess I'm kind of in love with you, too."</p><p>He gave her a miserable smile. "It's nice of you to say that, but—you're fifteen, I'm twelve."</p><p>"You won't always be twelve, Dipper."</p><p>"No, but I'll always be younger than you are."</p><p>"Yeah, like when you're twenty-one and I'm an old lady of twenty-four, you won't love me anymore."</p><p>Dipper's heart beat faster, but not with fear. With something else—hope, maybe? "But all through high school you'll have lots of guys around, and—"</p><p>"You gonna have lots of girls?" Wendy asked.</p><p>"Huh? Me? No!"</p><p>She was rubbing his back again. "You think I can't decide to wait for a guy who's smart and brave? Who's, like, the most loyal dude I ever met? Who can comfort me and reassure me and inspire me and make me laugh? Dude! One of these days you're gonna become my dream guy."</p><p>"Really?"</p><p>"Really. Only right now—well, yeah, fifteen and twelve, know what I mean? What would your parents say if you took me home and introduced me as your girlfriend? How would my dad act if I took you home and said, 'Hey, dad, here's the dude I'm gonna marry?'"</p><p>"That would be pretty rough," he admitted ruefully. "But—you're honestly a little in love with me?"</p><p>"Yeah, little bit, dude."</p><p>"You—you're not just saying that—"</p><p>She shoved him right off the log, but he fell backward into a thick growth of soft ferns, and she immediately pulled him back up onto the log. They both giggled a little. Then she said, "Dip, when a girl tells you she loves you, you don't go stammering and stuttering and running yourself down! Come on, Dip, you know me better than that! Have I ever lied to you? Even once?"</p><p>He had been through such an emotional wringer that even his smile hurt. "No. No, you never have."</p><p>"Darn right. And really, I've always sort of known how you feel about me. You think I can't hear those things you're always whispering?"</p><p>"Oh boy," Dipper sighed.</p><p>"Don't sweat it, man. You tell me first. Don't stop and over-think it, just speak the truth. You know what you need to say right out loud, right?"</p><p>Dipper tried to swallow a lump that felt the size of his fist. "Wendy," he whispered hoarsely, "I—I'm in love with you."</p><p>"Dipper," she said solemnly, taking both his hands in hers, "I'm in love with you, too."</p><p>He sighed. "But we have to wait."</p><p>"Yeah, 'fraid so." She leaned closer. "But not for this."</p><p>Dipper felt heat flashing through him head to foot as, sweetly and softly, their lips met in a lingering kiss.</p><p>And trust Mabel to ruin everything. She popped up, chanting, "Wendy and Dipper, sitting on a fallen tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"</p><p>They broke their kiss. "Mabel!" Dipper yelled.</p><p>"You told her! You finally told her! That rhyme doesn't scan unless you climb up in a tree, you know. Hey, Wendy, is he a good kisser?"</p><p>"Cool it, Mabes," Wendy said. "Me and Dipper just got something straight, OK? But nothing's gonna change for a long time."</p><p>"Ooh!" Mabel said, twiddling her first and second fingers. "So are you two all like that? About each other?"</p><p>"Mabel, please," Dipper said.</p><p>"I got this," Wendy told him, and then to Mabel she said, "Dipper and I have feelings for each other, girl. He's in love with me and I'm in love with him. But we have to wait until the age difference won't matter so much. Until then, it's top secret. Understand?"</p><p>"Can't I even tell Soos? Grenda? Candy?"</p><p>"Not even Waddles," Wendy said firmly. "If you do, I won't be your friend."</p><p>Mabel made a face. "Aw! You played the unbreakable condition card. OK, OK, I give. I'll keep it a secret. Provided you do something for me. There has to be something in it for Mabel!"</p><p>"What?" Dipper asked. To Wendy, he said, "With my sister, there's always blackmail."</p><p>Mabel flopped down on the grass, elbows on the ground, hands supporting her chin. "I don't want money! All I want is for you to prove that you two are in love. Go ahead!"</p><p>Dipper looked at Wendy. Wendy looked at Dipper. She said, "Dude, we're gonna be doing this a lot. Might as well let her get used to seeing us."</p><p>"I'm good with it," Dipper said. They embraced and very sweetly kissed.</p><p>And then Mabel bawled, "Not that! I want to be an <em>AUNT</em>!"</p><hr/><p>
  <em>The End</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Liar Liar</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This story is not in my AU, but is written in response to the prompt for Wendip Week: July 30th - What if Wendy and Dipper found themselves unable to lie for 24 hours?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Liar, Liar</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>(July 30, 2016)</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>It didn't even take a set of false teeth this time.</p><p>What it was, Gnomes have a very few magicians—"glicknapans," they call them, which loosely means "wise man/woman" in English. For the most part, these sorcerers or sorceresses advise the Queen, create healing potions, brew more potent mixtures to do such things as promote beauty, instill fertility, shrink or enlarge body parts, increase muscular strength, the usual stuff. Though Jeff never mentioned it (because a Gnome magic user operates on the down-low and not even the Queen's right-hand Gnome can speak the magician's name), the primary Gnome magician in this day and age is Nismeo.</p><p>That is of course the wizard's Gnomely name. Don't think I'm joking or mad as a hatter when I tell you each Gnome has three different names. There's the clan name, and for those in Gravity Falls, that means each of these begins with "Grafa." This Gnome's was Grafaneo. There's the secret name—Fleck, in this case. Finally, each one of the clan has an every day name, one in common English for Gnomes living in ether England or America. Nismeo's was Nismeo, admittedly unusual, but then he was a magic-user. For another example, take Jeff: Clan name, Grafachen. Secret name, Kigg. Common name, Jeff, of course.</p><p>Gnomes believe that if one knows all three names, one can control the being so named. If Nismeo knew that Jeff Kigg Grafachen meant, well, Jeff—literally all that Jeff is or thinks or does, in fact—then Nismeo could completely control Jeff.</p><p>Because magic-users can make people they control do terrible, horrible things, they are aware that the same thing applies to them. Even the most powerful glicknapan could be putty in the hands of anyone who knew all three of his or her names. Therefore, magic-users never let anyone else, even family, discover all three of their names and in fact create a fourth name to keep everything extra super-secret. Nismeo's secret name was "Fleck," but almost no one knew that. No one at all knew that Nismeo had self-rechristened himself as Slate.</p><p>The mere fact that he had four names would tell other Gnome at least one thing: Nismeo was not Civilized, but Feral. Anyway, only a subsurface-dwelling Gnome would create a super-secret nickname of such mineral import as Slate.</p><p>Background: The Gnome Queen had called a court together to try Hinnery, accused of stealing food from the Grafasmid family. Gnome courts don't bother with oaths and all that to insure that witnesses don't lie.</p><p>No, they use fiourfrem powder. It's made from mushrooms, mainly, and once any Gnome or supernatural creature or human so much as tastes it, it takes away from that individual the power of lying for about twenty-four hours.</p><p>The truth-telling teeth that Mabel spoke about once when the family had fallen down into the Bottomless Pit had been fashioned with the aid of fiourfrem essence. Anyway.</p><p>On the day of the trial, quite by coincidence, fifteen-year-old Mabel and Dipper and eighteen-year-old Wendy were having a picnic out by Amusing Rock. It was a freak of geology, a somewhat curved twelve-foot tall boulder of cylindrical shape, projecting up out of the ground at a steep angle. Its tip bulged a little and was rounded, and at its base were two big round boulders.</p><p>"Reminds me of something," Mabel said, gazing up at the rock. They had spread out their picnic in its shadow.</p><p>"'What?" Wendy asked with a kind of jolly leer.</p><p>"Don't get her started," Dipper pleaded.</p><p>But Mabel said, "A banana split made by an ice-cream guy new on the job!"</p><p>"Whew!" Dipper said.</p><p>On top of a bluff not far away, at that moment Nismeo was softly chanting a spell and the nervous Hinnery was shifting from foot to foot. "Stick out your tongue," Nismeo ordered. Hinnery shut his eyes and ran out the old pink gangplank, and Nismeo sprinkled a generous portion of fiourfrem powder on it. "Swallow!"</p><p>Gagging a little, Hinnery choked it down.</p><p>Holding a pouch of the powder up in case he needed to re-sprinkle it, Nismeo said, "Tongue again so I can check!"</p><p>Hinnery stuck his tongue out. It was clean. But Hinnery had a big fat nose, and he sneezed.</p><p>Startled, Nismeo lost his grip on the pouch, powder poofed from it as it hit the ground, and the after-burst from the sneeze spread the powder into the wind, and the Gnome magician sighed. The stuff was hard to make. Anyway, it worked, Hinnery couldn't lie, he testified and proved himself innocent, and that was that for the Gnomes.</p><p>Not for Dipper and Mabel, though.</p><p>Mabel had scarfed down her sandwiches and backed off to take a photo of Dipper and Wendy, who were still eating. "Guys, smile!" she said, holding her camera and trying to see the image on the screen. The sun glared on it.</p><p>Off in the distance she heard a soft "Kerchoo!" but it didn't register with her. In the next ten seconds, as she took a series of four pictures, the breeze carried some specks of powder past Amusing Rock. Some of them settled on Dipper's and Wendy's sandwiches.</p><p>Nobody noticed. The two finished their meals.</p><p>Mabel stretched and yawned. "Wish we could take a nap, but Soos is probably going to ask us to help out in the Shack this afternoon. Inventory."</p><p>"No, that's next weekend. Anyway, what are you worried about?" Wendy asked. "You always sneak away and goof off anyhow."</p><p>"Wendy's right," Dipper said. "You always go off somewhere, and we're left with all the work."</p><p>Mabel looked deeply hurt. "Hey! That's not true. Well, it is, but—I'm Mabel! Ha-ha."</p><p>"That isn't funny, Sis," Dipper said flatly.</p><p>"I wish we didn't have to go back," Wendy said. "I've been thinking all morning of how hot you look this summer, Dip. You know what I'm thinking? I'd like to strip you down and check you out!"</p><p>"Wa-wa-wa<em>-what</em>?" Mabel babbled.</p><p>"I'd love to get you naked, too," Dipper said, seriously. "I've never done it before, undressed a girl, I mean and all that, but—well, even the first time, I'd try my very best to make you happy!"</p><p>"The rock!" Mabel yelled. "Amusing Rock! It's not a banana split, it's a gigantic guy's <em>thing! </em>It's making you two crazy!"</p><p>"What's wrong with being honest?" Wendy asked. "Dipper, does yours look—"</p><p>"HOME!" Mabel screamed. "And I mean right now! March! And keep your hands and your eyes to yourself!"</p><p>By then the Gnome trial had broken up—there was just one witness, and when asked had he stolen food, he had said, "No," and that ended the trial—but the sounds of human voices had attracted Jeff. He was peering down from the bluff, his mind racing. If Dipper and Wendy had gotten even a smidgen of the truth powder—</p><p>"I gotta go check this out," he said, and he headed for the Shack in his own Gnomely way.</p>
<hr/><p>"No, I love you a lot, Sis," Dipper insisted. "Not like I love Wendy, but—"</p><p>"I love you like a sister, too," Wendy told her. "Not in a way like I'd want you to join me and Dip in a threesome—"</p><p>"Not hearing this!" Mabel said, her hands clapped to her ears. "La, la, la, la!"</p><p>They were within sight of the Shack when she stopped. "Hang on," she said. "All this stuff you've been saying—is it true?"</p><p>"Absolutely," Wendy said.</p><p>"Yes, it is," Dipper confirmed.</p><p>Squinting, Mabel said, "Tell me a lie! Say the sky is green! Either of you, say the sky is green!"</p><p>The two of them struggled, but Wendy said, "It's blue, Mabel," and Dipper said, "It isn't green."</p><p>Sounding frantic, Mabel begged, "Listen, I can say it! The sky sure is a pretty green today! Now you say the same thing!"</p><p>"I can't," Wendy said.</p><p>"No way," Dipper confirmed.</p><p>"Dipper! What do you really think of Soos?"'</p><p>"He's a great big sloppy man-child who's brilliant in his own crazy way," Dipper said. "He always means well, and he's a good friend, but he goofs up way too much."</p><p>"You'd say that right to his face, wouldn't you?"</p><p>"Of course," Dipper said. "It's the truth."</p><p>Mabel slapped her head. "Brobro! Wendy! You gotta have <em>tact!</em> I mean, some things are just true, you don't have to talk about them—"</p><p>Wendy said, "Honestly, Mabel, sometimes you can be sneaky."</p><p>"And you don't always tell the whole truth yourself," Dipper helpfully pointed out. "Usually I can tell, though, because you're bad at lying. 'I certainly didn't eat all of Mom's birthday cake by myself, if that's what you're implying. Cake? Who said anything about cake?' I remember when you said that, with icing all over your cheeks and chin."</p><p>"<em>Augh</em>!" Mabel said. "I can't let you talk to Soos and Melody! You'd hurt their feelings! What am I gonna do with you?"</p><p>A Gnome coughed. "Um, hi. It's me, Jeff."</p><p>"Jeff!" Dipper said as Jeff emerged from the underbrush. "Are you still mad about that leaf-blower thing four years ago? You were so easy to fool."</p><p>Jeff winced. "I . . . deserve that," he muttered.</p><p>"Yeah, you promised to help Dip and Mabes against Gideon too that one time, and then just because he blew a dog whistle, you went over to his side, you traitor!" Wendy said.</p><p>"Yeah . . . " Jeff admitted, scuffing his toe in the dirt. "Mabel, could we talk—privately?"</p><p>"I can't let these two out of my sight!" Mabel said.</p><p>"OK, let's walk back down the trail a ways," Jeff suggested.</p><p>They parked Wendy and Dipper in the bonfire clearing, then Mabel and Jeff retreated, Mabel watching uneasily as Dipper and Wendy sat on the log, hugging and kissing and touching each other in embarrassing ways.</p><p>"I know why this is happening," Jeff said. "It was an accident. This is Gnome magic."</p><p>"Huh?" Mabel asked. "Hey! Put your tongues back in your own mouths!" Then she asked more quietly, "What kind of magic?"</p><p>"It forces people to tell the absolute truth. For one day, then it will wear off. So if you don't want those two to be brutally honest in front of everyone, you have to keep them away from each other until—"</p><p>Mabel interrupted: "You zip that right back up this instant!" She asked Jeff, "Is it also a love potion?"</p><p>"No, just truth. But those two must've been hiding their feelings for each other, and when they confess everything, that triggers—"</p><p>"Put your shirt right back on!"</p><p>"—a public display."</p><p>"Oh, geeze Louise! Jeff, you take Dipper back to, um, back to that flat place on the far bank of the creek, OK? Wait with him there. Wendy and I will meet you there in like an hour."</p><p>By being sneaky, Mabel managed to bring some camping stuff out. She and Wendy shrugged into backpacks and carried the four-man tent. "OK, so remember this," Mabel said." I told Soos that your dad invited us on a camping trip—"</p><p>"That was a lie," Wendy pointed out cheerfully.</p><p>"Yeah, it was, but what do you want? For everybody to learn that you and my brobro got the hots for each other?"</p><p>"I wouldn't mind," Wendy said. "It's the truth."</p><p>"Well-" Mabel sighed. "You're both gonna be in the same tent tonight, so don't try to, you know, do it."</p><p>"We will, though," Wendy said. "Sorry, but now that I know how he feels, and I feel the same way—"</p><p>"Work with me," Mabel pleaded.</p>
<hr/><p>With Wendy and Dipper constantly pausing to fondle and kiss and hug, it was tough to get the tent erected. Other things, not so much, but erecting the <em>tent</em> was difficult. Finally, though, in a quiet clearing near the creek that tumbled over round stones, the tent was up in a grassy spot.</p><p>"We're staying here until—when, Jeff?"</p><p>Jeff shrugged. "At least until daylight tomorrow morning. I know it's supposed to be one whole day but that's just an approximate time. Could end before dawn, could be this time tomorrow. The good news is that there aren't any side effects. Uh, with Gnomes, anyway. I'm not sure with humans."</p><p>So began a difficult afternoon. Dipper and Wendy just could not stop talking.</p><p>"I thought you had the most beautiful green eyes, the prettiest long red hair, the first time I saw you," Dipper confessed. "And I got a crush on you and I love your cute freckles!"</p><p>"You were a funny little guy that first summer," Wendy said fondly. "But you know what? That one time when you climbed up onto the roof of the Dawn-2-Dusk and got in through the air vent, I thought you were so brave! And then you saved us by doing that crazy lamby dance—"</p><p>"The lamby dance embarrasses me," Dipper pointed out.</p><p>"Yeah, but in that little costume I just wanted to hug you and snuggle you and take you to bed like a stuffed toy!"</p><p>"That wouldn't be bad!"</p><p>"That's what you think! 'Cause I'd sure have to skin me a lamb!"</p><p>"Make it stop," Mabel pleaded to whatever forces might be listening in.</p><p>When night fell, the two were still talking. About very specific anatomical details and about how they could hardly wait, how they wanted to get married, have tons of kids, how each one wanted to make the other one, um, thrilled, and—</p><p>Mabel just gave up and took her sleeping bag yards away. Whatever happened in the tent—she hoped—would stay in the tent.</p>
<hr/><p>She woke with the sun already climbing the slope of morning, with an obvious ambition to get to noon before too many more hours had passed. Mabel cautiously unzipped the tent flap. "Yeah, I figured," she muttered. Clothes lay scattered all around, and her brother and Wendy were asleep. Both of them in the same sleeping bag.</p><p>Wendy opened one eye and murmured, "Time is it?"</p><p>"About nine," Mabel said. "Did you guys do the deed?"</p><p>"Do the—what do you mean?" Wendy asked. Then she gasped. "Oh, my God, we're both—um—in the same bag!"</p><p>"Love you," Dipper said groggily. "Um—wow! Wendy, you're—did we—"</p><p>"Did you do it, Dipper?" Mabel asked.</p><p>"Do what?" he asked. "Um, we, uh, we fell asleep, and I think we, I dreamed—"</p><p>"I'm gonna tell everybody how I found you," Mabel said.</p><p>"No!" both Wendy and Dipper yelped together.</p><p>"Mabel," Dipper said, "please leave us for a few minutes to get, um, up."</p><p>"I know what happens when <em>you</em> get up!" Mabel said. "But put some clothes on, then let's talk."</p>
<hr/><p>"I remember it now," Dipper told them a little later. "I don't know what came over me. I just—it all came out! How I really feel, all those things I tried to hide!"</p><p>"Me, too," Wendy said. "When I said that this summer I secretly fell hard in love with you—yeah."</p><p>"It wasn't so secret with me," Dipper said. "But I'm so happy to hear that, you know, you might—"</p><p>"No 'might' about it," Wendy said with a grin. "Not after last night! So what are we gonna do now?"</p><p>"Wait," Mabel said.</p><p>Dipper grimaced. "But waiting is going to be—"</p><p>"Hard, yeah," his sister told him. "But you gotta. You two want this to be forever, don't you?"</p><p>Dipper looked at Wendy, who blushed but nodded. "Yeah," he said.</p><p>"So you wait another couple years and then you make it official. Until then, you be real careful," Mabel said. "And when somebody asks if the two of you are, you know—what do you do?"</p><p>"We lie," Dipper said.</p><p>"Yeah, we gotta lie," Wendy said wistfully.</p><p>"Right," Mabel said. "This is for your own good, you understand. There's a time for truth and a time for when people like Mom and Dad couldn't possibly handle the truth. So from now until Dip's of age, you two have to lie together."</p><p>"As often as possible," Wendy said.</p><p>Mabel again screamed, "<em>Augggh</em>!"</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>The End</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That wraps up Wendip Week 2020 for me. Be safe out there, and stay well!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Sweet Memories</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I thought I was done with Wendip Week, but here I am in a small mountain cabin in the middle of a dreary rain, so I'll take a stab at the extra prompt: In Wendy's room, Dipper finds a keepsake box from Wendy's childhood dedicated to the cute boy she and Tambry saw when they were five.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sweet Memories</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>(June 27, 2019)</em>
</p><hr/><p>That summer was almost like old times. Wendy and Dipper returned to the Falls in early June, a young married couple. Mabel, still single but trying, showed up two days later because art school went a little longer into June than their university did. Dipper was already a senior, and Wendy—well, having taken community college courses that took care of her freshman year, she would graduate in December. Then she'd wait for Dipper's graduation the following June, and then—well, the future would happen.</p><p>But at the moment, they were back in Gravity Falls, and it was amazing how quickly they settled into the old routine—Wendy taking over summer duties as the Mystery Shack's manager, Dipper holding the title of assistant manager, and Mabel acting as counter clerk and shill. Soos and Melody's kids were in kindergarten and pre-school, Abuelita was still helping out, and Grunkle Stan came in about two days a week to spell Soos as Mr. Mystery.</p><p>At 19, Dipper was taller, better-looking, and certainly buffer than his twelve-year-old self had promised. Wendy, now 22, was still gorgeous—as far as he was concerned—and had a glow that made her look younger than her calendar age. They took the old attic bedroom, shoving the two beds together, and Mabel slept downstairs in the Ramirezes' guest room.</p><p>Old friends dropped in: Gideon, now 17 and reformed, trying to decide whether he wanted to go to business school or a seminary after high school; Grenda, with her chubby, cute baby, who would one day inherit his father's title and become Baron Fundhauser; even Pacifica, who had dropped out of college in her sophomore year to marry the son of a state senator, came by.</p><p>And the gnomes showed up, and Pituataur, and the Multibear—it was, as noted, almost like old times.</p><p>Then in late June Manly Dan broke his right forearm, rather badly, and had to be hospitalized for 48 hours for surgery and post-surgical treatment. The doctor advised Wendy to make things easier for him to manage when he returned home, though her youngest brother, now in his teens, would be there to help. Wendy said, "I know the place needs cleaning, and I can rearrange stuff so Dad won't have to strain to reach things." Dipper agreed to go with her to the Corduroy house to tidy up and help Wendy determine strategies to make healing easier on Dan.</p><p>Her youngest and oldest brothers would take care of transporting Dan back to Gravity Falls and to the house. The surgeon estimated that Dan would be released about mid-afternoon on the last Saturday in June. He'd have to wear a cast for about six weeks and would need some physical rehab after that, but Grunkle Stan promised he'd make sure his old friend obeyed the doctor's orders.</p><p>Anyway, Dipper and Wendy came back from the hospital on Thursday and then drove over on Friday and spent a long and exhausting day cleaning the place top to bottom, arranging the furniture so Dan wouldn't have to dodge around it. They were back on Saturday, cooking and freezing some meals for Dan and the boys to warm up, and so on. "If it was up to them," Wendy said, "they'd live on pizza and beer."</p><p>By noon, they were both tired. "Let's rest in my old room and let the casseroles cool before we freeze them," Wendy suggested.</p><p>The bedroom had been inherited by one of Wendy's carelessly messy brothers, so it had been the subject of a deep cleaning the day before. Same bed, though, and Wendy took from a deep shelf in the top of the closet the very same spread she'd favored when she was a teen—one that had a pattern of repeated pine-tree silhouettes.</p><p>"Remember how we used to lay here and watch those awful bargain movies?" Wendy asked as they put the spread on.</p><p>"Oh, yeah," Dipper said. "My favorite times, back when I was twelve."</p><p>"See if there's an extra pillow up there," Wendy said, nodding toward the closet. Dipper stood on a two-step stool and said, "Yeah, way back, if I can reach it." He snagged a corner and tugged it out, then noticed a cardboard box behind it.</p><p>"Toss it to me," Wendy said. "It'll be dusty, so I'll go outside and shake it out and then we'll put a fresh pillowcase on it. Don't want to make your allergies act up."</p><p>"Thanks," he said. When she took the pillow out, Dipper got a hanger from the closet and used it to reach far back on the shelf and hook the box. He pulled it close enough to reach and then got off the stool. The box, about ten inches square and two deep, had been decorated—stickers of Valentine hearts all over it—and in a second-grader's style, someone had used a red marker to write on the lid "My Drem Guy." An arrow showed where to insert an<em> a</em> between <em>e</em> and <em>m</em>.</p><p>Dipper sat on the edge of the bed and carefully removed the box top. A jumble of things lay inside. He pulled out the first one and blinked. It was a home-made Valentine card. The cover, with more heart stickers, read "I Love U Wendy." He opened it, and the inside had a picture of a boy ten or twelve years old, wearing tan hiking shorts and a red tee shirt. The photo had been clipped from a magazine or catalog—but the card maker had added a blue vest, cut from construction paper, and a blue-and-white trucker's cap, clipped out of white paper and colored with a light blue marker.</p><p>Under it, the same immature printing read "2 Sweet 2 Be 4-Got."</p><p>"This is supposed to be me," Dipper murmured.</p><p>More stuff: a hand-drawn hundred-dollar bill, wrapped in a note: "Der Wendy this is to by us a house so we can be marryed."</p><p>A plastic ring with a plastic diamond.</p><p>About forty love letters of one or two sentences each, like "I saw you and your friend on the street. I fell in love with you. I am rich and want to mary you."</p><p>Wendy came in with the pillow and said, "I double-bagged it in two cases, so maybe it won't set you off. What's that?"</p><p>"I think it's your hope chest," he told her.</p><p>"Let me see." She sat beside him and laughed. "Oh, my God! I had like the biggest crush of all time on this kid I saw when I was about five years old. He was twice my age, but I fell hard in love with him and stayed that way through like the fourth grade! Yeah, this is my memory box."</p><p>"What was the guy's name?" Dipper asked.</p><p>"I never found out. I remember Tambry and I were riding our trikes, and he came round the corner, and I thought he was so handsome. I told Tambry, and she told him—"</p><p>"And you pushed her off her trike," Dipper said, grinning.</p><p>Wendy tilted her head quizzically. "How did you know that?"</p><p>Dipper opened the card and showed her the picture that she had altered. "You had a good memory for clothes," he said.</p><p>Wendy put her hand over her mouth and giggled. "It was you!"</p><p>"The summer when Mabel and I were twelve," Dipper said. "We were running from time travelers and wound up in Gravity Falls back in 2002 for a while. After Tambry spilled the beans, I recognized you and said I was really flattered, but you were super-young so it was weird. And Mabel said, 'Now you know how<em> she</em> feels!'"</p><p>Wendy was going through all the little keepsakes. "And you had a crush on me though I was too old for you! I guess this must be Fate's way of telling us we were made for each other!"</p><p>They stretched out on the bed. The plastic engagement ring was too small for Wendy to wear—she could barely get it on the tip of her little finger, like a toy thimble. Dipper did a dramatic reading of the love letters she had imagined the boy writing to her. "That was beautiful, dude," she said after he had finished one telling her how he loved her red hair, green eyes, and freckles and wanted to kiss her a lot.</p><p>"I meant every word," he said.</p><p>They lay back on the bed, reminiscing. "Yeah, I wrote the letters I dreamed my guy would write just for me. And my dreams finally came true," she said. "What are you doing?"</p><p>"Just rubbing your tummy. You always like that."</p><p>"Yeah, I do, but Dipper—you know it's too early."</p><p>"Well, one of these days."</p><p>She put her hand over his. "Yeah. Let's not tell Dad yet. He's gonna be all grumpy with his arm in a cast and all. Maybe when we come back for Thanksgiving."</p><p>"Think they'll be kicking then?"</p><p>"They'd better be," she said. "I'll be about seven months along! Read that last love letter again."</p><p>Dipper sorted through and found it. "I love you, Wendy," he read. "I want to have children with you."</p><p>"Yeah, I was right," Wendy said, snuggling up to him. "All my dreams are coming true."</p><hr/><p>
  <em>The End</em>
</p>
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